The national team coach told Drivetime: “When Sam [Burgess] originally left rugby league and went to rugby union, he obviously had a huge ambition to play in the World Cup and he’s done that”.
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It was always asking a lot of Burgess, heading back to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, barely 12 months after helping the club win the Australian NRL Grand Final, to become a fully fledged union worldwide in such a short space of time. England play Wales tomorrow in their second Rugby World Cup Pool A match. It appears that the vitriol directed at him has looked to have pushed him away from the sport.
Sam Burgess began plotting his rugby union exit just 10 hours after England crashed out the World Cup, according to South Sydney Rabbitohs chief executive John Lee.
While Ford may be seething, and Lancaster despairing, one of Burgess’s former England rugby league teammates, Jon Wilkin, exclaimed: “I am thrilled we have a fantastic athlete back in our game”.
“England have got to learn lessons about how they recruit players, how they promote players, and the time in which to do that”.
In a press conference Down Under after the re-signing of Burgess on a three-year deal was announced, Lee explained: “From text messages led to dialogue, and dialogue led to conversation and then more people got involved and then a negotiation. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, he is returning to Australia”, Ford added.
“I think England knocked him hard – the disappointment that is – and ultimately he missed his family too much and has gone back home”.
“The way we play rugby at Bath he would have fitted in brilliantly and taken our game, and rugby union I feel, to a new dimension”, said Ford. Without being disrespectful, he was a virtual passenger and it seemed the only TV footage shown in Australia from his World Cup escapade was his high tackle on Michael Hooper, for which he was lucky not to be sin-binned.
“Hypothetically if he’d stayed with us, he might still be here”.
Sam Burgess’ return to the NRL has put the spotlight on the future of several other players at the club, including Dylan Walker and Chris McQueen.
England are hoping a few gold dust from double Olympic champion Daley Thompson will rub off on them as they go for rugby league glory against New Zealand.
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And instead he admits he can’t wait to see him again in an England shirt – but this time in front of rugby league fans who adore him. He’s been a rugby union player and that will be the case.
