With England’s back division squad almost selecting itself ahead of the World Cup, all eyes will be on Sam Burgess as coach Stuart Lancaster’s side run out for the friendly against France this weekend, part of the World Cup preparation. Burgess is the latest high-profile rugby league player to change codes and embrace the union game. His pedigree has been established in England and Australia but his has not been a straightforward transition with doubts expressed about his best position and former World Cup winner, Matt Dawson, questioning whether Burgess has the game-management and experience to be a force in the 2015 World Cup.
It is the latest chapter in a fascinating tale of two codes which have existed side by side in a somewhat uneasy relationship for over a century. Two forms of rugby have existed for 120 years and for the vast majority of that time the twain have never met. The northern-based Rugby League has been professional with Rugby Union nominally amateur. Through the vast majority of the period players moved from union to league, attracted by a regular wage packet, but it was a one-way ticket for those who did. All that has changed in the last twenty years with union going professional and no longer having barriers preventing a return. One of the highest-profile players to cross from league to union was Wigan’s Jason Robinson. Robinson made his debut for Sale Sharks in November 2000 and followed up with an England debut as a substitute just three months later. Two years on came a World Cup winners medal, the speedy back having played in all seven games in the tournament. His is one of the most successful cross-code transfers. Rugby history is littered with the good, the bad and the ugly.
Many words have been expressed in comparing the two games and experts and fans alike have pressed the virtues of one or the other depending on which side of the pitch they are watching from. Teams from each code have been occasionally matched. A two-game series between Bath RUFC and Wigan RLFC took place in 1996 just a few months after union went professional. It was seen as a commercial exercise by many with Wigan winning the league match 82-6 and Bath the union match by 44-19. The exercise, nevertheless, marked the beginning of a thaw between the two forms of the game.
A number of rugby league players took short-term contracts at union clubs during the break from the Super League season, league now being a summer game. Further down the line came the first permanent moves, including Va’aiga Tuigamala who moved from Wigan to Newcastle Falcons for a world record £1 million. Robinson followed, as have others, which brings us back to Sam Burgess.
One of four rugby league playing brothers,Burgess played at the very top level for eight years, first for Bradford Bulls, then South Sydney. He was capped by both England and Great Britain and developed a reputation as a fearless competitor, nowhere more so than in the 2014 NRL Grand Final. Playing alongside brothers Tom and George, Sam broke his cheekbone in his first tackle of the game but stayed on to help South Sydney to victory.
He returned to England with reputation high and was signed by Bath Rugby club on a three-year contract. Many saw him as a future England player, a big ball-playing rugby league forward who could transfer those skills to the back line in union. Stuart Lancaster sees him as a ball carrier who can threaten the game line but progress at club level has not been straightforward. Burgess started in midfield for Bath before moving to the back row. A good performance in Saturday’s game could silence critics as well as ensure a World Cup place.
Main image credit:
