Jeff Probyn: ‘Bridesmaid’ Sam Burgess must be judged next season

There is always a sense of excitement as we enter the New Year and await the announcement of the squad that will take our hopes and dreams into this year’s Six Nations.
This year has extra spice with the World Cup only nine months away, not just for us but also for the players, with some knowing that this is their last chance to either play themselves into, or out of, that competition.
The squads announced this week will, with some noticeable additions, form the centre of Lancaster’s World Cup squad and the question on everybody’s lips will be, can the few surprise inclusions make the final cut?
I say surprise inclusions but in reality you would have to have been stranded on a desert island not to have seen those selections coming from a mile away.
The injured Ben Morgan’s replacement was always going to be an established player and not a ‘new boy’ because of the importance of this Six Nations in both finalising England’s style and laying down a marker of intent for the World Cup.
With such an important series ahead Lancaster is hardly in a position to gamble and needed someone who has never let England down and Nick Easter is that man.
His current form with Quins has been outstanding and he is one of those players whose performance week to week is at the highest standard. In fact the only reason I feel he had been left out of previous squads is his age.
At 36 he joins a rare group of players (including me) who have played for England beyond the age of 35, even Jason Leonard made it to only 34, as it was an unwritten law that once you reached that age you were dropped no matter how you were playing and called back only in exceptional circumstances.
Easter, in all probability, will play off the bench during the Six Nations knowing that, at the age of 37 when the World Cup starts, if Morgan returns to fitness he will miss out, no matter how well he plays.
Danny Cipriani‘s inclusion comes off the back of some impressive games for Sale and a successful summer tour with England and perhaps a little air of caution on the part of Stuart Lancaster.
There is no doubt that on his day Cipriani is a match winner, but he can also be as bad as he is good and that is why he has been left out of so many England squads.
The one quality that all coaches look for is consistency, a bit of genius is fine but if that comes at the cost of consistency, then the player with the stardust can find himself condemned to the ‘bit part’ career on the bench.
Even though at this moment England seem awash with talented fly-halves, (Ford, Farrell, Burns, Myler, and Slade) Cipriani does have something that most of them have not – experience.
His time in a previous England set-up and in Australia gives him a wealth of ‘game experiences’ that the others have never faced and his presence could enrich the playing style of the whole squad.
There is also the lesson that all coaches have learned from the All Blacks who have failed to win World Cups because they didn’t have enough strength in certain key positions in their World Cup squad.
With Cipriani out of contract soon and contemplating a move to France that would effectively finish any hope of selection for England, his inclusion in the Six Nations squad could encourage him to re-sign at Sale or for another Premiership club.
That would keep him available to Lancaster should disaster befall any of the fly-halves currently ranked above him.
Two names that jump out from the Saxons squad are Maro Itoje (England’s U20 captain) and Sam Burgess. Seven games into his Union career and Burgess has made selection for England’s second team – the Saxons.
Some may say that at 6ft 5ins and 18st it is foolish not to give him an outing in the centre against the Irish Wolfhounds, just to see if he can make the step-up but what will we learn if he does start and fails?
If Burgess doesn’t play well against the Irish, coaches will say he is still on a learning curve and that the bad games are just as important, if not more, than the good games if he is to fulfil his potential.
That may be right but there are a lot of players who have never been given a chance to reach their full potential having failed to perform in their first international outing – just look at the number of  one cap wonders as they are affectionally called.
Burgess may well become one of the great England centres (or back rows) when he has had time to learn the game but is seven games or even one entire season enough time to do that?
All players have a bridesmaid year when they first burst on the international stage and it is only the following season when you can judge how good they are.
Even the force that was Jonah Lomu didn’t make as big an impression on games as he did in his first year when he took the rugby world by storm, even though he had been playing Rugby Union all his life.
Itoje has already tasted success with England at U20’s level but, at a similar size to Burgess and still only 20, he could be a massive player come 2019.
I saw him in last week’s Sarries game against Muster and although he only came on as a late replacement, he showed enough to remind me of a young Francis Emeruwa. Those fortunate enough to have seen Francis play will know what a compliment that is.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on January 25.