Sam Burgess made a forgettable representative union debut as England Saxons ground out a worthy victory over the Ireland Wolfhounds in Cork.
With head coach Stuart Lancaster watching from the stands at a capacity 8,200 Irish Independent Park, Burgess produced several conspicuous errors in the first half before becoming a peripheral figure after the interval.
Only eight matches into his union apprenticeship and clearly still a novice in the code, the Bath inside centre failed to make any meaningful impact on a disappointing night to end any fanciful notion of playing a role in England’s Six Nations campaign.
But the former league superstar was hardly alone in failing to grab his opportunity as the Saxons toiled against a strong Wolfhounds line-up with openside Matt Kvesic, substitute Maro Itoje and No.8 Thomas Waldrom among the few to impress.
Fly-half Henry Slade and wing Christian Wade crossed and Slade kicked two penalties in a match that saw the set-piece splutter all night, but the ability to seize victory in a difficult assignment will please the English management.
All of the home side’s points came from the boot of Ian Madigan, who landed three penalties in a bitterly cold night.
England’s second string was described as “the strongest Saxons team we’ve ever put out” by Lancaster with Chris Ashton, Marland Yarde and Waldrom among a number of players possessing Test experience.
But all eyes were on Burgess, and right from the start the omens were poor as he sought to make his presence felt with an early run only to be drilled into the turf by Dominic Ryan, conceding a penalty in the process.
Problems continued to mount for the Saxons as Ashton shot out of the line to make an unsuccessful tackle on Keith Earls, who then darted clear, before their scrum lost the ball against the head.
Ashton took a palm in the face from Sean O’Brien as tempers threatened to boil over and Burgess’ evening showed no sign of improving as he sent a pass straight into touch before an offload went astray as the Saxons finally built some momentum.
The visitors’ most promising spell was rewarded with a 22nd minute try for Slade, who finished a fine move that saw Waldrom produce a smart offload and Elliot Daly carry with intent.
Apart from a bright move by the Wolfhounds that ended when O’Brien spilt the ball forward, the match lost all direction amid a succession of errors from both teams.
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
I think Suarez could potentially be a very good 9!!! Lol. Some soccer players would make pretty mean backline rugga players. This may sound ridiculous, but if I was Heyneke Meyer, I would be talking to AB DeVilliers to get involved in a Super Rugby franchise right after the cricket World Cup and see how he goes. AB could potentially solve the Bok number 10 issue. The guy oozes talent that I reckon it'd only take a handful of games and an extra 7kgs of muscle for him to start dominating a rugby game, as he does in cricket. Jeff Wilson and many others have done!?
Reality
Guest
I think the England selectors hoped he would turn out Ok for a while, it didn't happen!
nerval
Guest
There is no rugby league media to speak of in England. It is the union media that has "trumped" Burgess up - nobody else has been given the chance.
Harry Jones
Expert
John Terry, sort of a Butch James? Suarez--definitely a 9
RobC
Roar Guru
Christoper, which juniors do you reckon are worth a mention?
RobC
Roar Guru
mid December, Billy V admitted he took things soft before he was dropped, irrespective of injury. He's lifted since. Old man Easter, though has been good I think. Or is it just the haircut? Dany C is creeping into the team. Apparently Bomber and him are facebooking each other, a little more often :) . Or it could be a ploy to keep him swimming with the Sharks It would have been very unwise for Bath and England to set unrealistic expectations with SamB. Its a total waste of time and money, for no good reason.
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Steve... I don't think England or the WC needs this fella to draw interest. There's plenty of that already! Have you not seen how hard it is to get a ticket at Twickenham for just a 6 Nations game, let alone for the World Cup!!! On the flip side, maybe if someone like Frank Lampard or John Terry decided to play rugby it may spark interest in those who traditionally don't follow rugby in the UK.
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Odd statement. "Big name League blokes" don't exist outside of Australia, and to a smaller extent the north of England. Not many outside of these areas knows or cares about any "big names" in the NRL. What I have observed, is that if a player has come across from Leaugue to play rugby then it's kinda only really trumped up by the Aussie media who knows who they are from League. I had no idea who Sonny Bill Williams was until he played Super Rugby. And he's a fairly good player and athlete, still 2nd behind Nonu though for that AB 12 jersey imo.
Christopher Clarke
Guest
Billy's recent resurgence more or less coincided with Morgan's injury so competition hasn't galvanised him especially given the other options at 8. Haskell has played there but showed the handling skills of my guinea pig, Choco. Easter has only been accepted back in to the fold because of injuries. When Waldrom is another option you know trouble is afoot. Given this, I'd bring Steffon in at 8. Cipriani is a fine player but I don't think Lancaster trusts him. For me, he is probably England's best 10. I would be mightily surprised if Slammin' Sam is around in a couple of years to hone his skills irrespective his contract with Bath. That said, I think England will have a stronger side for the 2019 WC if he wants to stick around. The juniors allied to younger existing squad players look very promising.
RobC
Roar Guru
Bill V, has lifted recently imo its because he realised there is competition for places. Armitage at 7 or 8? I share your view re 'Son of Andy':; - Ford / Slade / Myler are Berland Foley type playmakers. - I think Dany C may be a solution. - England needs to have someone deeper in the pocket. Yes re Eastmond Joseph. Manu T, like Billy V needs competition to flourish. And England needs options/backups. Yes SB isn't at Manu T's level yet. But I reckon he'll overtake him in a couple seaons.
Jeremy
Guest
The England selectors thought he was ok for quite a while.
Christopher Clarke
Guest
Obviously, that should read Tuilagi outside Eastmond. Damn mini i-Pads and the minimal eight minute editing window.
Christopher Clarke
Guest
Owen is a superb defensive player and he's mentally tough but his attacking verve ranks alongside wartime Italy. In addition, despite rumours to the contrary, Farrell's kicking stats aren't the best in England. Ford is a much better attacking player. I am big fan of what Burgess has achieved in rugby league but he is not quick enough for centre unless he has the impact of Tuilagi (he doesn't...yet) but Stuart Lancaster is obviously desperate to get Burgess up to speed in that position. At the risk of repeating myself, give me Eastmond (when fit) outside Ford and Tuilagi (when fit) for a truly creative English midfield. Slade will be a sensational player and he plus Joseph should be included in the interim. In the forwards, Henry Thomas has looked very impressive and, given Wood's injury I would draft in Haskell as one of the season's form players. We are spoilt for choice in most forward areas apart from 8 where Morgan will be a big loss. Still, Vunipola played superbly at club level recently. I would like to see Steffon Armitage back in the mix but that's a personal choice possibly not shared by the RFU and SL.
soapit
Guest
your definition of ok is different to mine.
soapit
Guest
true fr the egnlish rugby fans but anyone else who is paying attention is likely doing so because of burgess.
RobC
Roar Guru
SB will be handy as a hard hitting offloading centre for England: - Something unique to him and Manu T - There's already a bunch of good forwards in Eng stocks. - Takes time for him to get the hang of set piece, rucking, mauling, pick/go etc. Once he gets the hang of the game, in particular rucking. I think he will be a very handy centre for Bath: - they need a midfield hard man to complement their nimble centres ie Joseph Eastmond. - Bath already has pretty good backrow including Flow - SB could move up to the backrow, but that will be a longer journey, way past RWC imo Couple more years as centre. Then his team may terrorise everyone: - Both club and international as a centre. - England will have two big centres, injury cover - Then you have three solid attack platforms: pack power, back 3 speed, midfield speed and power Halves are shaping up to exploit this, now the the coaches are looking beyond the son of Andy.
Daz
Guest
Faaark the backs. We have a surplus of good backs. We need some good honest, hard working, salt of the earth forwards, and they need to be told just how important they are to our game plan.
Daz
Guest
No master plan. Just a tugging of the forelock, like in oz and in the isles of the darkness, and in the old dart that leaguies are tougher and stronger and faster and harder and more skilled than anything that rugger can produce. I don't necessarily agree with that but as they say "perception is reality."
JimmyB
Guest
Daz, where has this assumption that Burgess coming over to union is part of some grand master plan by the RFU come from? It was Bath who recruited Burgess with no involvement whatsoever from the RFU.
JimmyB
Guest
Except that that's not what happened.