Bath and England work together to bring the best out of rugby league star Sam ...

“We won’t do that. It doesn’t make sense. Sam did what he does again in

midweek for South Sydney – 31 tackles, 28 carries, two tries. If we don’t

put him in a position that gets that work rate out of him and that quality,

we are not getting the real Sam Burgess. His skill-set is 60 plays a game.

He won’t get 60 in union but he will get 15 at inside centre.”

England crave a settled midfield combination. The tour to New

Zealand showed up their problems, although the Billy

Twelvetrees-Luther Burrell partnership served them well in the Six

Nations. What is really lacking is a sense of presence, of

reliability, of consistency, a feeling that this is England’s man – as

either Ma’a Nonu or Sonny Bill Williams is New Zealand’s man. Burgess is a

force, a rallying point, a warrior and a leader in league. That is what

England want, Bath, too.

Burgess, 25, was lured to Australia in 2010 by Russell Crowe, the Hollywood

actor who co-owns the Rabbitohs. “Rugby league in Australia is special,”

Ford said. “They have the mindset that they are better than us. So when you

go there to play, you are not as confident. But Sam had the mindset that he

wanted to be better than them, and that he was going to prove it to them

every week. That is special.”

Ford, a former league international himself and England’s former defence

coach, does not blithely assume the transition will be instant. He knows

that it will take graft, from both sides. He has already spent time in

Sydney with Burgess and speaks to him every week.

“I went over in June,” Ford said. “I took him a big manual which is like: this

is how you clean-out in this situation, this is what you call it, the manual

has the picture, the description. It’s a manual of the Bath way. Sam has

watched the [Super Rugby champions] the Waratahs in training with [head

coach] Michael Cheika and had a coffee with him. He went to watch

Australia-New Zealand in Sydney. We speak every week.

“We talk about how his body is, how his mental state is. I spent eight days in

Sydney and saw him three or four days. I met his family. He has a ritual in

which every night before a game his brothers come over for spaghetti

bolognese – I got invited to that. I spoke to his mum about his move; she is

from Dewsbury, her little boy is going back to England and she is upset. I

said: ‘Look, I’ve got three boys, there’s one in Bath, one in Sale, one in

London. You are quite lucky that all your boys are playing for the same

team.’ ”

Burgess is a mature figure, a perspective shaped by the trauma of nursing his

father, Mark, through the terminal illness that claimed his life at the age

of 45. During his four years in Sydney he has met every challenge head on.

One player at Bath knows him better than any, the man whose No 12 shirt he

will be gunning for at club and country, Kyle Eastmond.

“He is a friend of mine and I’ve known him since I was 12, first played

against him for Lancashire Under-14s against Yorkshire, been in every

national training camp all the way through,” the former St Helens player

said. “Sam was always a standout player. He loved the contact, even in camp,

flying around making tackles. It does seem surreal that we will both end up

here at Bath. It does take time to adjust. It took me a whole season but I

could understand if it even took longer.

“We’ve spoken a bit and I’m here for him if he needs. It’s great he’s coming

here. It is good news for everyone.”

Another Bath player, fly-half George Ford, is also acquainted with Burgess.

“Sam was at Bradford Bulls and I was making the decision whether to go to

Bradford or Leicester, aged 16, and he came to the house with [England and

Bradford coach] Steve McNamara and basically said: ‘Sign for Bradford, we’ve

got a young team, it’s going places.’ Six months later he signed for South

Sydney. We’ve had a laugh about it. We are all massively excited he is

coming.”

Burgess is an asset. That much is for sure. He will turn heads as much as he

smashes bodies. Never mind the position, he is a player on the global stage.

The future is his to shape.

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/10963110/Welsh-rugby-plunged-into-new-crisis-as-peace-talks-between-regions-and-union-collapse.html

Bath and England work together to bring the best out of rugby league star Sam ...