Sam Burgess U Turn

[TommiG88]

Such a shame but not a huge loss. I bet bath aren't particularly happy about this.

 

[ncurd]

I have to ask where the communication from Bath failed? They've said all along he was bought with the back row in mind very publically as well I may add.

Ford & Craig gave very public backing to him at Bath in the past week as well I suspect they're fuming deep down.

 

[McTallshort]

Can you blame him?
He got screwed over by the English management.
Copped bucketloads of abuse by the media and the public.
He returns to a side that he loves, in a position that he excels at and surrounded by his family.
A no brainer for me

No one screwed him over and no one has abused him. People rightly questioned his selection but he's been wrapped up in cotton wool and given opportunities players like Ewers, Slade and a host of others would have killed for and in return he's gone back to league with his tail between his legs. Hope he enjoys the next RL world cup with its 4 teams

 

[Wimero]

Wonder if he'll be in the line up for any of the remaining league tests against the Kiwi's.

 

[LukeFitzgerald]

No one screwed him over and no one has abused him. People rightly questioned his selection but he's been wrapped up in cotton wool and given opportunities players like Ewers, Slade and a host of others would have killed for and in return he's gone back to league with his tail between his legs. Hope he enjoys the next RL world cup with its 4 teams

So towards the end of the season for Bath, he put in a few decent performances at 6, where he was much more effective as a 6 than a 12.
England pick him for the RWC as a 12 and give him a summer to learn how to play at 12.
It's not a massive surprise that he failed.
That is mainly the English management's fault for picking him in the first place.
He shouldn't have been picked and should have been given time to develop at Bath where he could have been a starter for England at the 2016 6N.
Gordon D'Arcy completely destroyed him in an article for the Times:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rug...-is-blunder-that-could-bury-england-1.2371821
Paul Hayward laid into Burgess but most of his criticism was with the decision to pick him in the first place:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...-played-to-Wales-strengths-at-Twickenham.html

 

[McTallshort]

So towards the end of the season for Bath, he put in a few decent performances at 6, where he was much more effective as a 6 than a 12.
England pick him for the RWC as a 12 and give him a summer to learn how to play at 12.
It's not a massive surprise that he failed.
That is mainly the English management's fault for picking him in the first place.
He shouldn't have been picked and should have been given time to develop at Bath where he could have been a starter for England at the 2016 6N.
Gordon D'Arcy completely destroyed him in an article for the Times:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rug...-is-blunder-that-could-bury-england-1.2371821
Paul Hayward laid into Burgess but most of his criticism was with the decision to pick him in the first place:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...-played-to-Wales-strengths-at-Twickenham.html

He was given a chance to play in a RWC a head of other more established players they got screwed over not him. His performance was questioned and rightly so but he was never abused by the English press, D'Acy wrote in the Irish Times.

 

[ncurd]

Hayward's aricle can hardly be constituted as abuse.

D'arcy sure I'll accept that but that's one pundit outside the UK.

However he was hardly hounded & abused especially by the British press.

 

[Aristodemus]

Very disappointing from a Bath perspective and I can't help but feel that he would still be playing union if he hadn't been selected for the WC.

 

[LukeFitzgerald]

He was given a chance to play in a RWC a head of other more established players they got screwed over not him. His performance was questioned and rightly so but he was never abused by the English press, D'Acy wrote in the Irish Times.

I agree that he shouldn't have been given the chance but if an elite level sportsperson was given the opportunity to play at a world cup, you would have to question their mentality if they turned down that opportunity.
Would you be happy if i said that both Burgess and other players such as Burrell were screwed over by the English management?

 

[McTallshort]

I agree that he shouldn't have been given the chance but if an elite level sportsperson was given the opportunity to play at a world cup, you would have to question their mentality if they turned down that opportunity.
Would you be happy if i said that both Burgess and other players such as Burrell were screwed over by the English management?

Not really, Burrell was but Burgess was given a golden opportunity without earning it. He had the arrogance to think he deserved to be where he was and to be honest did the job he was asked to do but the selection and game plan against Wales showed a real lack of ambition and I am only surprised they won by just 3 points. He was never personally attacked by the press apart from the article in the Irish Times. So no he was never screwed over, his easy ride to selection did him no favours but he was happy to play and be paid to do so.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Two questions.

If Bath always saw him as a 6, why did they start him as a centre? Never understood that.

Did his RWC selection create ructions in the squad? If others felt had hadn't earned his spot, especially at the expense of a mate, this would have made life very uncomfortable for him.

Family reasons are likely to be a part of this, likewise the realisation that he was never going to attain the same god like status he had in league. He could have been excellent at 6, possibly even a FEC, but never an all time great.

Just another example of something Lancaster got hopelessly wrong. And if he was being pressured from above, he should have resisted.

 

[valley commando]

Can you blame him?
He got screwed over by the English management.
Copped bucketloads of abuse by the media and the public.
He returns to a side that he loves, in a position that he excels at and surrounded by his family.
A no brainer for me

Good post. he didn't bottle it Lancaster did by picking him at centre, perhaps he should have dropped Rubishaw played Burgess at 6 and Armitage at 7, still we will never know, by the way when are they sacking Lancaster ?

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Good post. he didn't bottle it Lancaster did by picking him at centre, perhaps he should have dropped Rubishaw played Burgess at 6 and Armitage at 7, still we will never know, by the way when are they sacking Lancaster ?

1) He's bottled it now.
2) Enough with the Armitage nonsense
3) The review panel was selected to keep Lancaster in post whilst covering various arses. Nothing will change until 2020.

 

[valley commando]

I'm so angry about this, both at England and at Burgess.

England pushed him into the position where he had looked unconvincing at best, ignoring the fact that his best performances came at 6. I'm fairly sure that had he been omitted from the wc squad and instead had a full pre-season learning his game at 6 for Bath, he would've had an excellent season. Instead, he wasted 4 months playing a position he was never going to succeed in (especially not before the world cup).

However, I'm also angry at Burgess. What's the point of coming to a completely new sport if, after 1 average season where you show potential, you quit and run back? What did he expect? To lead England to a rwc win?

The whole thing has been a shambles of mismanagement and lack of communication between Bath and England. If we had a S15 structure, he would have played in a position which was mutually agreed, and this whole situation would've been avoided.

He didn't expect the small minded hypocrisy that was shown to him, he expected to be treated fairly and wasn't, Steve Mcnamara was a guest on talk sport this afternoon and was extremely natural down to earth, open and engaging the complete opposite of Lancaster no wonder he wants to return to league.

 

[Maverick1987]

1) He's bottled it now.
2) Enough with the Armitage nonsense
3) The review panel was selected to keep Lancaster in post whilst covering various arses. Nothing will change until 2020.

If they keep Lancaster then Twickenham won't be on my TV screen till he's gone . I'm more than happy watching Tigers anyway we have had a bit of a resurgence in the last few weeks .... Long may it continue

 

[Patchey]

Any of you fellow Instagram hipsters? Bath just posted a photo of Sam with the following caption:
'News has broken that Sam Burgess has left Bath with immediate effect to return to South Sydney Rabbitohs. Can't help feeling that he was let down by England in the World Cup. Good luck Sam, we'll miss you'

Either someone is getting fired or, more likely, this is close to the official line and they are (rightly) very annoyed.

I have some sympathy for Sam, but mostly its for Burrell, Fearns and the Bath management. It may just be spin they are clearly suggesting his onvolvement with England was the deciding factor and that is what most commentators seem to have concluded as well.

Honestly don't see Lancaster surviving this now. It is a very embarrassing PR blow for a man whose management was so often focused on having very positive PR.

 

[valley commando]

Such a shame but not a huge loss. I bet bath aren't particularly happy about this.

He's a bigger loss than it would be if Rubishaw or Woods were to leave the England set up, seriously there are some really stupid comments regarding Burgess, I can only imagine they have never watched him play league, the only other reason for posting childish comments like good riddance or not a huge loss is the petty snobbery muted by some idiots that union is far superior to league, just as there are idiots who say league is much better than union, all I can say is grow up children, do you really think that you would have acted differently to big Sam if you'd been in his position.

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Not really, Burrell was but Burgess was given a golden opportunity without earning it. He had the arrogance to think he deserved to be where he was and to be honest did the job he was asked to do but the selection and game plan against Wales showed a real lack of ambition and I am only surprised they won by just 3 points. He was never personally attacked by the press apart from the article in the Irish Times. So no he was never screwed over, his easy ride to selection did him no favours but he was happy to play and be paid to do so.

Why the hell are people blaming Burgess because Lancaster and his cronies picked him, the blame and vitriol should be directed toward those that picked a novice in a position that he was unfamiliar in.

 

[Maverick1987]

He's a bigger loss than it would be if Rubishaw or Woods were to leave the England set up, seriously there are some really stupid comments regarding Burgess, I can only imagine they have never watched him play league, the only other reason for posting childish comments like good riddance or not a huge loss is the petty snobbery muted by some idiots that union is far superior to league, just as there are idiots who say league is much better than union, all I can say is grow up children, do you really think that you would have acted differently to big Sam if you'd been in his position.

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Why the hell are people blaming Burgess because Lancaster and his cronies picked him, the blame and vitriol should be directed toward those that picked a novice in a position that he was unfamiliar in.

That's nonsense and calling Robshaw Rubishaw just proves your mentality . ROBSHAW has outplayed Warburton plenty of times and has plenty of merits at 6

 

[TRF_Olyy]

That's nonsense and calling Robshaw Rubishaw just proves your mentality . ROBSHAW has outplayed Warburton plenty of times and has plenty of merits at 6

VC gets all his rugby knowledge from WalesOnline, it's best just to ignore all his posts as the bleating of the incredibly uninformed.

 

[valley commando]

1) He's bottled it now.
2) Enough with the Armitage nonsense
3) The review panel was selected to keep Lancaster in post whilst covering various arses. Nothing will change until 2020.

2 So you think the Armitage thing is nonsense, have you read Steffons comments earlier this week ?
Why do you refer to it as nonsense ? Surely the only nonsense is what the RFU and England coaching staff have exhibited by not picking him, open your eyes and watch him play for Toulon this season and then see who is talking nonsense.