strawclearer wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:11 pm
Stephen Jones in The Times, saying Burgess is wrong to blame Mike Ford for the World Cup catastrophe.....
"Sam Burgess, a northern disaster area in England’s campaign in the 2015 World Cup, has revealed that he had finally got to the bottom of that collective shambles. He was, so said a website, now revealing the “real truth”. Exciting, if slightly tautologous.
We learnt that Burgess blames Mike Ford, then coach at Bath. Ford had no direct involvement in the World Cup campaign whatsoever. However, Burgess speaks of Ford’s “sabotage” and calls him “a snake”. Well, something nasty has been crawling through the undergrowth, and it wasn’t Ford. It was Burgess."
If I get nothing else I have learned one thing from this
Tautologous
noun, plural tau·tol·o·gies. needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.” an instance of such repetition.
If you want to change codes it is probably easier for wings and full backs. The transition was too late in his career - he seemed to lack the pace to play centre and I got the impression he was seen as a flanker which is a role that takes time to learn especially as a League loose forward is not the same role - the scrum and breakdown are just not there. I would imagine Bath would have been unhappy to play him there as the premiership is not the training ground for novice forwards and presumably were reluctant to weaken their side by leaving out a true back row forward in the hope that Burgess could become good enough come the world cup to play for England. In the end England used him in the backs where he was able but not at a level expected of a side with serious world cup ambitions.
Was it Bath who arranged for him to convert to union or were they just the recipients of an RFU bungle? If so Ford perhaps wouldn't have been too happy to fit him into the side. I suspect that the RFU had failed to grasp that the Union code had moved on from the amateur era and that it was not as simple as dropping in a genius League player like Jason Robinson. It's all well and good being a great League player but that doesn't mean they have the skill set for union and vice versa. Dan Cole may be a great prop in Union but he would be a liability in League. What would Johnno be as a league player?
Full article making the allegations. His wife and his in-laws are all accusing him of being a violent, abusive, cheating, lying, drug user and that it's all been covered up by his family and his club. Seems pretty compelling.
I expect he'll get away with it
