Wednesday 30 September 2015 16:02, UK
Former Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy says Sam Burgess' "naivety embarrassed those around him" in England's 28-25 defeat to Wales.
Burgess, who switched codes from rugby league last October, formed a surprise midfield trio alongside fly-half Owen Farrell and outside centre Brad Barritt for Saturday's dramatic defeat.
England twice led by 10 points, and Burgess' selection was generally considered to have been at the very least a qualified success.
But D'Arcy, who won 82 caps for Ireland as part of a famed partnership with Brian O'Driscoll, and also represented the British & Irish Lions, was scathing in his assessment of Burgess' contribution.
"Burgess lacks the sense of timing, in attack and defence, required to be effective at international level," D'Arcy wrote in a column for the Irish Times.
"His naivety embarrassed those around him and severely damaged England's chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
"Stuart Lancaster picked a league convert who doesn't know how to play inside centre for the biggest match England have played since the 2007 World Cup final.
"To compound the problem, Brad Barritt was out of position at 13 and exposed accordingly when it mattered most.
"By picking Owen Farrell, Burgess and Barritt, England didn't come to Twickenham to play rugby. We all knew this.
"Burgess never got to the pace against Wales. He clearly bust a gut but effort and strength were never going to be enough. Barritt was arguably worse and badly exposed for the Gareth Davies try.
"By then, the Burgess experiment had been abandoned because the England coaching team accepted, long after everyone else, that he had no idea what was happening around him.
"All Burgess did was run straight in search of collisions with Jamie Roberts (who obliged but really conned him most of the time).
"Sam is a phenomenal athlete and clearly a fast learner. The damning question for Lancaster's England is: why were these learning curves taking place in the pool of death's must-win game?"
D'Arcy adds that Luther Burrell should have been filling the role requested of Burgess as he has already "proved he can do what they hoped Burgess would do".
