Sam Burgess will shake up centre play, says Henry Paul
Burgess’ signing by Bath ironically comes at a time when England’s two incumbent centres, Billy Twelvetrees and Luther Burrell, are getting rave reviews for their Six Nations form.
But Paul, who switched from Bradford to Gloucester in 2001 and won six caps in England’s midfield, reckons the arrival of ‘Slammin Sam’ will raise the bar higher, making the three-year deal a ‘win-win’ for club and country.
Paul told The Rugby Paper: “If I was a centre in England right now I’d be thinking, ‘jeez I’ve got to raise my game otherwise I’m going to lose my place to this monster’.
“In the same way I’d like to think I helped push Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood back in 2002, because they knew that if they had a bad game – not that they ever did – I was there or thereabouts in terms of selection.
“My mate Luther Burrell has worked his socks off to get where he is, every spare moment has been spent developing his game.
“But Luther, and all the other centres, will have to step up to another level now because Sam is a superb athlete with all the attributes to be an awesome centre.
“The scary thing is that we’ve probably not seen the best of him yet, age-wise his best years are still to come so it is great for Rugby Union they’ve got hold of him now.”
All eyes will be on Burgess to see if he can learn the tricks of his new trade in time to be considered for England at next year’s World Cup.
But Paul says Burgess will have to fight to get into Bath’s exciting backline. “My Kiwi mates immediately talked about Sam and England, but I told them that, first of all, he’s got to cement his Bath spot.
“I watched Bath a few times live and on TV and from what I’ve seen Sam certainly won’t have it all his own way.
“Kyle Eastmond produced some great stuff at centre against Harlequins and he’s already on the fringes of the England team.
“But if Sam breaks Bath’s team he’ll get enough ball to create havoc because the pack is performing well and he’ll have the outstanding George Ford alongside him.
“As a coach I’d want Sam to hit it up and get over the gainline. He’ll draw in defenders because it takes more than one man to bring him down, which will create opportunities for others. I think he’ll have a great time in Union.”
Assessing Burgess’ World Cup chances, Paul said: “I’d say they’re 50:50, not 70:30.
“There are enough players in front of him to make it difficult in such a short space of time. Luther is playing out of his skin, Manu Tuilagi is coming back and there’s the ball-playing ability of Billy Twelvetrees.
“Sam needs to learn Rugby Union in stages and not just be thrown in at the deep end. Having said that, I’m confident Stuart Lancaster wouldn’t just put a bloke in because he’s a big draw, it has to be because he’s a quality player and best in his position.”
JON NEWCOMBE
