It would be great to have him back in League. The entire Burgess scenario seems to have soured the League/Union divide even more, the Union journo's very quick to look down their snobbish noses, declaring Burgess''inability' to ''hack it'' in Union, and our reactions to that. I have no doubt though that Union will come up smelling of roses, League players being labelled as unable to hack a ''superior'' or ''true'' code of rugby.

Well if anything has come out of the burgess saga it's that matt Dawson is as big a as Stuart Barnes and Stephen Jones. The talentless little weasel is loving it. Imagine the press Sam would've got if he'd actually played badly.

Souths have first and last refusal on him if he ever returned to league. So unless there screwed for money or we throw millions at them I very much doubt he will be in super league next year.

Honestly don't see how any of this reflects badly on league. Union draft in a prop forward to play centre when what few games he has played for his club have been in the scrum? Shows poor decision making and desperation on the part of Union nothing more.

I don't really understand what you are saying here. Sam Burgess is a very good rugby player. There is not a position in Union that
suits his game. He is more suited to playing League. He will enjoy playing league more and he has looked frustrated at how to get involved in the Union game. Your views on snobbery etc. are out of order. There are pillocks in Union and pillocks in League and there are some great people involved in both.

He's obviously been reading comments by some of the Union press. People like Stephen Jones - a prominent journalist, one of of the UK's largest selling newspapers 'lead Rugby correspondent' - referring to Rugby League as the "dying game" and telling its supporters they need to find a new sport to follow because their game will be dead within 5 years.

These comments were made by him on Twitter within the last 3 weeks.

Ah Stephen Jones ... the man who truly hates League. We used to nick his favorite welsh players when only League paid money openly. He enjoys winding people up in his ridiculously heavy newspaper (written by ex-paper boy).

.....moving on......... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34665009

.....moving on......... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34665009

Stephen Jones....in a crowded field stands head and shoulders over all other Union bigots (honourable mentions to Guscott and Inverdale).

You know the whole saga is one big toff finger pointing storm. When Ray French is the only one talking sense. ...

Matt Dawson called Burgess arrogant for even thinking about playing for England union. ... off pal I'm a 48 year old asthmatic with a broken big toe and I wouldn't look out of place on a pro union field.

I actually laugh at some of the they get up to in the odd seconds I give the sport my attention.

Union is a horrible sport run by and commented by bent horrible spiteful condescending toffee nosed lovers.

I'm quite a laid back person but my passion for rugby league is only matched by my hatred for union.

Its a sport ....I'd rather watch the taliban stone kittens to death

Anyway ......Coffee break over ....

Oh Burgess... he'll stay at Bath for another year I guess. Like joey johns says "I don't know why they go. ..they always want to come back".

Can't say I'm surprised that Burges is returning to RL. Before he had even touched the ball on the darkside the knives were out for him. He has played every game in RU under the microscope, every small error, not that there were many, was portrayed as a catastrophe and example of why he shouldn't play for England. Like it or not RU has the old school tie principle operating in the upper echelons and I believe they can't wait to get shut of half the coaching staff and a couple of players because they are perceived to be northern oiks.

Can't say I'm surprised that Burges is returning to RL. Before he had even touched the ball on the darkside the knives were out for him. He has played every game in RU under the microscope, every small error, not that there were many, was portrayed as a catastrophe and example of why he shouldn't play for England. Like it or not RU has the old school tie principle operating in the upper echelons and I believe they can't wait to get shut of half the coaching staff and a couple of players because they are perceived to be northern oiks.

it was a stupid purchase on their behalf, made no sense whatsoever.

I think the home nations would improve their chances if the RFU would actually allow players to shrug off the mantle of having to work within approved set plays. Their guidelines don't seem to cater for individual flair or enterprise & thinking out of the box is a cardinal sin.

Southern hemisphere teams are much more successful because their players are allowed to be individuals to a certain extent, & the emerging nations just seem to play what is in front of them & do produce watchable rugby at times.

Unfortunately though, i think Sam was always a likely scapegoat.

Niners...Your first paragraph could also describe the modern RL game.

Indeed. Been indulging in some of brens fine videos from the 80s/90s lately and so much wonderful off the cuff rugby you rarely see anymore. Plenty of biff, characters and running duels....marvellous. God mark Roberts was class.

Yes Brian, i think maybe spreading the ball from the first tackle could even confuse defences & lead to a more open game. The game does seem a bit predictable at times these days.

Was funny listening to the radio this morning when the Burgess story was raised, the interviewees all falling over themselves to say how he wasn't made a scapegoat for the WC failure. They played the bloke in the wrong position FFS..(and no, I don't know what position would suit him best in RU, that game is still a mystery to me)


Oh and Stephen Jones, the most hated man in NZ after he wrote a piece condemning the Haka!

I'm pretty sure he said the very same thing in 1995.

The conspiracy theorist in me always saw this as union putting us in our place from the off.

A grand plan to show us up.

1st Remove the English poster boy from the game.
2nd Fast track him in the sport knowing he isn't ready.
3rd Blame him for the most prominent loss
4th Show the world that league is poor because their poster boy can't play the game.

Wow! How do you sleep at night?

Yeah. Not sure how the million pound investment they have made in Burgess and the embarassing exit from the World Cup tie in with that however.

I think Sam was just trying to be like SBW. World Cup is done now so flit back to League to play NRL until the next World Cup. The team's poor performance has probably ruined that business model for him.

Well, when I wear my tinfoil hat, those aliens won't look into my thoughts

Think you mean aluminium, tin is soooo last century...

Everything about the English RFU's campaign in their World Cup has been a disaster - the order of the England fixtures was misguided at best and arrogant at worst, and as for waving shedloads of cash under prop forward Sam Burgess's nose and then expecting him to play in the centres after only a few months trying to learn the arcane rules of their version of the game, words fail me.