England may give Bath’s cross-code signing Sam Burgess his first taste of representative rugby union as early as next month before a Six Nations championship which is already being billed by the national team captain, Chris Robshaw, as the most exciting in years.
Burgess has touched the ball precisely twice in competitive union as a replacement in the Premiership game against Harlequins on Friday but is already under consideration for selection in the England Saxons squad to play the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork on 30 January.
It is premature to imagine the former South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league player featuring in the Six Nations but Stuart Lancaster, England’s head coach, refused to rule out fast-tracking Burgess into the Saxons set-up. “That would be a big step but who knows?” said Lancaster, keen to explore all avenues to ensure England are as competitive as possible at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
“We will wait and see but if he plays well there’s a Saxons game in January. He is one who will be of interest without a doubt. It took about three men to stop him when he did carry the ball on Friday.”
Robshaw believes the criticism of England’s autumn performances before Saturday’s 26-17 victory over Australia will help them respond positively under pressure at the World Cup. “Now we know that, if it happens again, the guys aren’t going to crumble,” said the Harlequins flanker. “When you get to a World Cup you can’t afford to lose one or two games because then you are packing your bags and watching everyone else on TV. We’re really pleased with how we solved things.”
England’s players also believe they can look forward with optimism to their Six Nations opener in Cardiff in early February despite Wales’ win over South Africa on an improved weekend for the northern hemisphere. “If we’d have lost, things would have spun pretty quickly but that’s not something we have to think about now,” said Robshaw.
“It was a challenge for us in Cardiff last time and I’m sure they will welcome us with open arms. But I think we are ahead of where we were at the start of the autumn. We all know we didn’t start well but we feel we’re back to where we need to be. Now it is about going up another gear. Wales won against South Africa, Ireland are going well and Scotland are playing well too. It is probably going to be the most exciting Six Nations for a while.”
England, however, believe their increasingly confident pack could prove a major weapon in 2015. “Let’s be frank about it, we’ve played some of the best packs in world rugby over the past four weeks and we’re extremely pleased how the front five have done,” said Robshaw.
“Look back at the history of English rugby and they have always had a good pack to go back to.”
