It was never going to work out. The moment Stuart Lancaster announced Sam Burgess' selection for this year's Rugby World Cup, ahead of established players Luther Burrell and Billy Twelvetrees, I knew it wasn't going to work. England had a squad that could have competed at the World Cup, it just wasn't the one they took with them.
There are other problems I had with the squad selection, Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon to name just a couple, but I could not be more disappointed in Lancaster's choice of Burgess. This is a player who could have grown into the best Union centre this fine nation has ever had, given time. To switch codes and go straight into a World Cup squad with less than a year's experience is a lot to ask.
He should not have been selected. That's the end of the matter. The pressure that he was exposed as part of a home nation's World Cup squad to has made him the scapegoat in the eyes of the media and driven him back to Australia. And who could blame him? No-one would have though any less of Stuart Lancaster if he decided not to select Burgess, but it was the worst decision he has ever made. Given another season and a few matches in next year's Six Nations and he would be a different player, more confident in his position and more adept at handling the pressure.
Talking of his position, Bath Rugby had him at Flanker, but England seem to want to play him at Centre. I seem to remember this was the mistake that Brian Ashton made with Andy Farrell. Not taking away Farrell's participation in England's magnificent, and quite frankly unexpected, run to the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final but he never produced the sort of sparkling form in Union as many had been expecting. I believe that this was mainly down to the fact he initially played at Flanker for Saracens and Centre for England. Although he did play most of his Union career at Centre, this was after he had left the England setup. The same criticism can be leveled at those involved in Sam Burgess' Union career.
Therein lies the problem for cross-coders. Unless you're as quick as Jason Robinson or as built from pure manliness as Sonny Bill Williams, it's probably not going to work out at international level. Robinson was a success at Union because he didn't need to change his style when he switched from League. Give him the ball and he'll just run with it and see if anyone was brave enough to try and chase. Williams was a success because he's Sonny Bill Williams. Who else gets bored of League, switches to Union, wins a World Cup, gets bored again, quits Rugby altogether to become the New Zealand heavyweight boxing champion, goes back to League, wins a World Cup then switches again to Union purely to win another World Cup? The man is a pure machine. Oh! Let's not forget the incredible act of generosity he displayed in giving an idolising young boy his WC winner's medal recently.
Sam Burgess is not Jason Robinson, nor is he Sonny Bill Williams. Given the opportunity and the time, he may have grown into being Sam Burgess (if you see what I mean), but he was given neither. Which is pathetic. The RFU should start with him in their investigation because they have lost the best cross-code player this country has seen in a long time because they were stupid and irrational in their decision making and selection.
