Sir Clive Woodward backs Sam Burgess to make England's 2015 World Cup squad
Wednesday 10 December 2014 08:42, UK
Sir Clive Woodward has backed Sam Burgess to make a rapid transition to rugby union and secure a place in England's World Cup squad.
The 25-year-old will make his first start in union on Friday when Bath take on Montpellier in the European Champions Cup.
Burgess is expected to deployed at inside centre by Mike Ford and Woodward is very excited to see how Burgess adapts to the position.
"Next year is going to be one of the biggest years in English rugby history because of the home World Cup and Sam has an outstanding chance of making the squad for that," Woodward said.
"He's a great footballer, so there's no logical reason why he shouldn't play and it will be fun finding out what happens. He's a very good player.
He's the No 1 rugby league player in the world and when a player of that stature comes over to union, you have to be excited by it.
"Burgess is looking at inside centre which is one of the toughest positions to play in terms of understanding the game.
"He's the No 1 rugby league player in the world and when a player of that stature comes over to union, you have to be excited by it.
"I'm sure he'll be loving the attention. He's under a lot of pressure because everyone will be watching him. It's great for rugby union."
England are hoping Burgess will solve their midfield conundrum after Kyle Eastmond, Owen Farrell and Billy Twelvetrees failed to nail down the inside centre position during the autumn.
Luther Burrell and Brad Barritt are other options but Lancaster is no closer to establishing a settled centre partnership now than when he took over in time for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.
Woodward believes it is crucial for England to settle on a centre pairing so they can use the Six Nations to prepare for the World Cup.
"I wouldn't call inside centre a problem position, it just seems to be that England are revolving selection a lot," he said.
"We have a very talented squad of players, but at some point we need to find the player who's going to start against Australia and Wales at the World Cup. They've got to find that out pretty quickly."
England open their Six Nations campaign with a trip to Cardiff to face Wales and Woodward believes it is very important psychologically for Lancaster’s side to beat their World Cup A opponents at a venue where they were decisively beaten 30-3 in a title decider two years ago.
"You could lose every game between now and the World Cup but still win the World Cup," Woodward said.
"As a coach you can only look at your next game, the World Cup will take care of itself one day.
"Their next game is in Cardiff and that should occupy one thousand per cent of their mind, because that will be one hell of a game. If they think beyond that, they'll be in trouble.
"England were bashed up in Cardiff two years ago, so that's a big game they must win.
"Wales have just beaten South Africa and will be strong at home, so England will learn a lot about themselves."
