Sam Burgess frustrated with rugby union progress, admits Bath head coach Mike Ford

Bath head coach Mike Ford has admitted Sam Burgess is frustrated with his progress during the early stages of his rugby union career.

The former rugby league star has enjoyed varying degrees of success since joining Bath from NRL champions the South Sydney Rabbitohs three months ago.

Burgess’ high profile means the union novice has been saddled with a high level of expectation as he adapts to an entirely new code and Ford admitted his development continues to be a work in progress.

"I think he had a perception that he would come in and pick up the game straight away," Ford said.

"It frustrates him a bit. The scrums frustrate him, the time the ball is out of play. He's standing around getting cold. He has to deal with all these things.

"We've put no time on it. We are not saying that by April he's got to be the best centre in the country, or anything like that.

"We will play it game by game, and the more he plays, the better he will get."

Involvement

Burgess partnered Kyle Eastmond in midfield in Bath’s 21-13 home defeat to Northampton but they could make little headway opposite a well-organised Saints defence.

Second-placed Bath's latest league defeat came just six days after they were beaten by play-off rivals Saracens, and they now face a testing trip to in-form Exeter next Saturday.

"The last two weeks we've had a plan to get Sam in the game from set-piece, and we've not delivered," Ford said.

"From a driving maul and hitting Sam up the 10 channel has not quite worked. From a set-piece point of view, he's not quite got in the game. From phase-play, we are probably lacking a general in there to get him into the game.

"To be honest, we didn't get much good ball throughout the game (against Northampton). They kept the ball for long periods in that second-half.

"It is disappointing we're not getting him in the game, but we will do.

“He is very positive. He is getting to understand the game in that you don't get many chances, and when you do, you've got to deliver, so there is a bit more pressure on that.

"He will have 20 carries in rugby league, and here it is four or five."

Strangled

Reflecting on the Northampton loss - Bath have not beaten Saints for four years - Ford added: "They are a very experienced side, and their tactics were very good. They strangled the life out of us in the second-half.

"We are disappointed. We have lost to Saracens and Northampton now and got no points in either game, but we are still second. It's still in our hands a little bit.

"We have got seven Premiership games left. We will lick our wounds and look to get better.

"I don't think it is over, but Northampton will take some catching. They will have to lose at least two games, so they are cemented in a top-two spot, if not top."