The England coach, Steve McNamara, has dismissed suggestions that Sam Burgess is a “thug” and should have been banned for more than one match after his high tackle in the World Cup opener against Australia, saying it was the result of a mistimed challenge and without malice.
Burgess will miss England’s second match of the tournament on Saturday, against Ireland in Huddersfield, after deciding not to appeal the suspension after a tackle on Sam Thaiday that left the Brisbane Broncos player concussed.
The 24-year-old was put on report after catching Thaiday in the head with a swinging arm and did not train with the squad at Loughborough on Tuesday, instead taking time out of his schedule to visit the Prince of Wales at Clarence House along with representatives of each nation competing at the World Cup.
Sections of the Australian press have labelled Burgess a “thug” after the Kangaroos’ 28-20 victory at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday but McNamara said the criticism was over the top. He added that Sean O’Loughlin was in contention to replace Burgess against Ireland. “Sam’s going to pay the price for his clumsy tackle and he’ll do so by missing this game,” he said. “We’ve got to take that one on the chin. It was out of our hands.”
Of the suggestions that Burgess is a dirty player McNamara added: “That’s completely wrong. Everyone who knows Sam understands he’s not that type of player. He got his timing wrong.
“If you watch the tackle closely, Sam didn’t go to maim anybody but he got his timing wrong and, if that happens and you hit someone, you’ve got to pay the price. Sam Thaiday’s OK, there’s nothing too major done there. The Aussie press need to look at their own a bit more.”
Asked if O’Loughlin could replace Burgess on Saturday, McNamara said: “He’s got a really strong chance. He’s trained extremely hard with the medical staff and conditioning staff. He’s put himself in a position where he’ll continue that this week and train with the team fully. We’ll see where he is in the next day or two.”
England go into the match knowing that a win is vital if they are to progress from Group A. Ireland were beaten 32-14 by Fiji on Monday and McNamara is confident that his team can avoid complacency, having learned their lessons in the warm-up defeat by Italy. “The players are fully aware of what is in front of them,” he said. “They will be playing in front of a full house of 20,000 at Huddersfield and probably two-to-three million people watching on TV, with a place in the World Cup at stake. There’s a hell of a lot on this game.”
Rugby League World Cup 2013: Sam Burgess is no thug – England coach
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