Sam Burgess has opened up about why his rugby career ended so abruptly as he looks set to rejoin the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League.
In an 1800 word article written for the Daily Mail the 26-year-old said his decision to leave club side Bath and England rugby was due to his desire to start a family in Australia, the scrutiny on his performances, and the realisation his true love was rugby league.
Burgess said he was willing to stay until Christmas and had been at training, expecting to play, but the club fast tracked his release after he spoke to coach Mike Ford about his plans for the future.
Burgess made it clear that England’s Rugby Football Union had been supportive during the whole process and he was proud of his achievements in the game.
“I came to union to try to play at 12, but I ended up playing at six for Bath. I managed to get into the England training squad as a 12, even though I was playing as a flanker for my club,” Burgess said.
“I think a lot of people outside the England camp had an agenda against both England and in some circumstances, me. Certain ex-players had an agenda and sections of the media had an agenda, too. I also think certain coaches not involved with England had an agenda.”
“No matter what I did, I always felt that I was fighting a losing battle,” he said.
Burgess addressed the criticisms of his performances at the Rugby World Cup, pointing out the fact that England was only behind in one match, against Australia, when he was on the field.
With the blame game playing out in the media, Burgess questioned whether he wanted to be a part of the intense scrutiny for another year, let alone four years until the next World Cup.
“I felt I was never going to win, regardless of what happened, so I thought: ‘I’m going to stop wasting my own time and everyone else’s time here.’
“I’ve spoken to quite a lot of the other England players and they’ve all been very honest. Some have said they are disappointed in me, but they understand.”
Burgess admitted he’d been in contact with Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire and Russell Crowe since he arrived in England and after playing rugby, realised he was missing the physicality from league.
“In rugby league, I used to get to certain times in the game when I was completely, physically gone.”
“Yeah, union is tough, there are tough parts of it, but I never found myself reaching that point. League took me to places I’d never been before in games but I never found that in union.”
Burgess said he had no regrets about making the switch to union and is looking forward to spending time with his family in Sydney before another rugby league season.
Milan
Guest
thomas played alot of his career at fullback and centre. he has given a direct comparison of a rugbly league back against a rugby union back. that seems fair enough to me (unless of course it does not suit your argument) for the forward comparison maybe you can ask brad thorn next time you bump into him
Ryanno
Guest
What do they call blokes who hang around with rugby players? Wingers...... It's the opinion of a winger. Most of them don't even need to wash their jersey at the end of the game. Take a look at the work of a top flanker in rugby v the work rate of a second rower in league. Perhaps that is a more realistic test of physicality. I don't know why people bother to even compare them, the games are so different and don't allow for stats to compared in number of tackles or hit ups.
skirttheissue
Guest
Jerry......Gold :)
S Kumar
Guest
Bravo *tips hat*
Ralph
Roar Guru
Well fortunately I don't mind what you think Renegade. I'll point you back to the post above, which is still true; "most jobs set performance measures above mere attendance". If you have a rare type of job that means you are a big success when you don't perform - then good luck to you.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Because comparing life and death situations to a sport is a fair comparison..... You're digging further and further Ralph... I don't think you'll ever get out of this hole.
Blue
Guest
Well did he have a crack? Not really. Was all but guaranteed a spot in the RWC squad. Quickly realised how much work he will need to do and the next England coach is not going to just pick him because the old farts say so. Sydney suddenly looked terribly comfortable. Sunshine, everybody loves you and you don't have to bust your nuts to prove your point. He failed miserably at Rugby. Not all his fault, but clearly it does not matter to him to prove that he can be a star in Union and that's okay. Back to running straight for five meters's about oh, ten times a game and cashing your check at the end of each game. Easy as pie. Most of us would do the same. It's easy money. SBW set the example. Admitted after a year that he still had no real idea what he was doing. Worked his arse off. Took a back seat and learned. Then went to the pinnacle. Sam just was not willing to take that role and it's okay. Just don't rubbish the game because you failed because that might suggest that you not only failed but it questions your bottle.
Ralph
Guest
Tell you what, if you ever need major surgery in your life, pretend there is a difference between a poor surgeon and and great surgeon and -- just to humour me -- don't measure the skill of the person on the basis of "he made the team". If only for your families sake.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
AndI Alan,I have attended union tests in my youth,as I was brought up on the code.The code tries to make out its such a highly technical sport multi dimensional sport as though it were a planned mission to the moon.Or the mapping of the Human Genome.That's the spin. A scrum is hardly multi dimensional,technical yes.Lineouts where the player is lifted,when I played (at High School)it was an individual thing,no assistance. The only dimensional difference is the lineout in reality. The ball still spends so much time out of play or lost in a myriad of a group of players scratching for the ball.,like hyenas at a kill. And the so called simplicity or if you call it one dimensional aspect of rugby league makes it an open running game.Yes there are at times boring rugby league games,but I have witnessed many boring ru games in my life not assisted one iota by so called multi dimensionalism. Ball in hand by union players is far less as is tackling.And don't get me started on Union in the Northern Hemisphere. The closest a ru side comes to rl,is the attacking flair of the All Blacks or Barbarian matches. The funny part the classy ru players for the wallabies ,the Ellas,Campese ,Giteau,Beale and Fairfax were all brought up on the "one dimensional code of rugby league. BTW surfing is one dimensional,watching those guys perform is entertaining.
Alan
Guest
"Where have I oevrstated the competitiveness of International league? It was your refusal to accept the fact that rugby has more competitive teams at the highest level that made it clear to everyone that you either know nothing about both sports, or are being obtuse for the sake of it. "If anything it was you overstating the competitiveness of the RWC that i responded with a retort too….. if you honestly think there was 8 teams that could win that tournament " Once again Renegade, you are twisting the truth to suit your agenda. I never said there are eight teams that can win the world cup, I said that they are 7-8 competitive teams in Union at any given time. I challenge you to go and read that comment again . And what's wrong with that statement? Argentina, NZ, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Wales and South Africa have all had epic battles against each other over the last few years. Even Scotland were a referee's decision away from beating the wallabies at the wc. If you refuse to accept a factual statement, then you are the one who is obviously refusing to be objective.
Alan
Guest
"Whats embarrassing is that a keyboard warrior, who’s “observed” a few games on TV thinks that they’re actually more “informed” than somebody who play both games at the highest level.. Another league supporter in denial mode. He played 12 in rugby, do you understand that? There's a massive difference between the workload of a back in union compared to a forward, I can tell you that based on my experience that I had playing at 8 and 6 back in the day. He played a few games at 6 for Bath, but from what I saw he was totally lost at sea and had very little involvement in the game as he didn't understand the position. I also know many guys who have played both codes, and they have all said that a flanker's position in union, especially openside is the hardest position that one can play in out of the two codes. Forgive me for not taking the opinion of someone who has only been in the game for five minutes and then chose to run back to Sydney.
Kirk
Guest
i would really stop mentioning small boys. Maybe on the Rugby Union page they like to talk about small boys but its an inappropriate topic in rugby league...
Rugby Tragic
Guest
Yeah .... I was wondering who he would replace in the AB's ... I mean the All Black midfield backs were not much chop were they? ...
Milan
Guest
i repeat an earlier comment from gareth thomas (wales union legend who then switched over to league and who played in the backline in both codes). The outstanding union player Gareth Thomas said ‘Without a doubt Rugby League was the most physically demanding sport, and that’s statistically speaking, without the need for argument. I started off as a winger and also played centre, and in a top Rugby Union game, like a Heineken Cup or World Cup, I’d make ten carries a game if I was lucky and six or seven tackles. In your average Rugby League game you could pretty much triple every action, so statistically it has to be much more physically demanding. When I played a game of Rugby League I’d look at the clock and think ‘where have those minutes gone?’ because you just don’t have time to check anything . So in terms of action I’d take Rugby League over Union any day of the week. If I have more action I have more input into the game’ what more evidence do we need over the toughness and physicality of league over union? Union is more tactical and much bigger on the world stage (albeit alot of that due to suppressing league such as the vichy government in france) but endurance and toughness wise gareth thomas hits the nail on the head - when in fact as a union man i would have expected him to support the code that made him a national hero
Rugbyfan Jakarta
Guest
@ We've got a live one ... Ummmm, yes, actually, for us rah-rah types, we consider these jobs to be par-for-the-course. All my Rugger buggers are surgeons, pilots, bankers, CEOs of blue chip companies etc, but we all consider ourselves and our jobs to be 'ho-hum' ... not really successful. Ok, ok, relax, I'm just joking ... could not resist a bit of a dig ... me bad.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Where have I oevrstated the competitiveness of International league? If anything it was you overstating the competitiveness of the RWC that i responded with a retort too..... if you honestly think there was 8 teams that could win that tournament then you clearly lack any knowledge on either sport. So your opinion on rugby being more intense is invalid considering you seem to not watch either. Every player that has played both games often talks about the fact League is more intense and physical..... the stats back it up too but hey let's listen to Alan's objective rants as he is clearly not a union code warrior on every thread he has commented on. As for you Ralph - i'd still be in hiding if I was you after Monday's ridiculous comment that was shot down with facts mate.... "clouds full of promise but rarely deliver rain"... good one! :)
Rugbyfan Jakarta
Guest
@ We've got a live one ... Rugby fans have have never said a dozen or more teams could win the World Cup - that's a fiction which people like you trot out to suit your convenience. But certainly more than Australia or NZ as in league. But I should thank you for confirming that Rugby has a wide global appeal. Yes, England is a big Rugby nation (the biggest if you take professional players / teams as a measure) and is one of the super powers. But it's currently ranked 8th in the world because a lot of countries play Rugby and the sport is competitive at the world stage.
We've got a live one
Guest
So Alan, if your opinion is more informed the Sam's, could you pleased direct me to your youtube video's where you played both League and Union at an international level. Whats embarrassing is that a keyboard warrior, who's "observed" a few games on TV thinks that they're actually more "informed" than somebody who play both games at the highest level.. Next you'll be telling me union is a more intense game, even when a quarter of the game can be taken up by scrum resets (Oh sorry, you already did, Not having a good day are you).
We've got a live one
Guest
And yet if RL is not a threat to union, why are you getting riled up and see a need to defend it. If you wonder why they're are so many Union "Haters" in Australia, just look at your attitude of the Union supporters here and you'll have your Question answered.
We've got a live one
Guest
So Union fans have been lying to us all these years when they say Unions a world game where any one of a dozen or more teams could win the world cup? After all England is supposed to be one of the world superpowers of Union where the game was invented. Ah well, I guess it good to see a Union fan to admit the truth for once..