Sam Burgess tipped for Rugby World Cup success with England by Paul Wellens
Wednesday 26 August 2015 14:00, UK
Sam Burgess can be a big success if he plays for England in the Rugby World Cup, according to former team-mate Paul Wellens.
Retired Great Britain and England rugby league international Paul Wellens says Burgess will bring the qualities that made him an outstanding star of the 13-man game to rugby union.
Burgess will know on Thursday if he is in coach Stuart Lancaster's 31-man England squad for next month's World Cup, having only made the switch from rugby league last year.
"He's a strong carrier of the ball and he's got a great off-load game," Wellens told Sky Sports News HQ. "He runs beautiful lines and he can integrate that quite easily into rugby union.
"But I think more so with Sam, when I played with him he was only an 18-year-old kid basically playing for Great Britain against New Zealand, one thing that struck me about him was his confidence.
"He's got a real aura about him, a real presence, and I think that's invaluable in a World Cup campaign when you have big personalities within the group who have been successful in the past, albeit in a different sport.
"I think Sam Burgess can add so much to the England squad in this World Cup."
England start their World Cup Campaign against Fiji at Twickenham on September 18.
