Phil Larder, the man who coached the England Rugby League team during the 1990s, has revealed to national radio station talkSPORT that he thinks Sam Burgess should have STAYED in Rugby League.
Larder, who was also part of the England coaching setup that won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, told the station he thinks Burgess will crack rugby union eventually, but says that he was so good, he’d have tried to convince him to stay in the 13-man code rather than make the switch to Bath.
“I think Sam will make the journey, but it’s unfortunate the World Cup came so early for him,” he said.
“As a League player he was up there, in my opinion, with the likes of Ellery Hanley and if I’d known him I’d have tried to persuade him not to go to rugby union because he’s an awesome, unbelievable rugby league player.
“The games are similar, but in certain areas they are very different, and I couldn’t see how an international rugby league player, who played in the second row, could make it out there in the centres in such a short time.”
