As a Welsh supporter I'm glad we didn't have to play against Sam any more than we did, but as a rugby supporter I'll always be disappointed at how his time in union was mismanaged
@@cliveuuking4602 he was used as a scapegoat for England's awful world cup performance. Thrown straight into the back for England even though he was playing flanker mostly for club
He’s used to guys as big and bigger running at him at full speed so that was a piece of cake for Sam. League hits are another level to anything union can produce just from the way the game is played.
@@Danimal13 Sorry read your original comment wrong. I thought you said if George Ford hadn't messed him around. My comment would therefore have been aimed at Mike Ford, who is George's father.
Yeah I'm union born and bred but you do have some tough fuckers in League. I've always liked Jamie Peacock. Kevin Sinfield gets all the attention from the Leeds team of that era cos of his charity exploits and Union coaching role but I've always thought Peacock was a bloke you just wouldn't want to look in the eye if you'd given less than 100%.
I went to the England Samoa semi at Emirates. Tom Burgess took such a fricking battering that by the end of the game you could see him talking himself into doing another carry, but he did. That's hard.
Obviously an amazing athlete and world class rugby league player. Didn’t appear to have the IQ for union but no reason why he couldn’t have developed it given more time, but mainly one position to learn and stick with. Surely back row was the best thing for him, especially given how physical he was. Ultimately better off in rugby league clearly - however we can’t help but just think how good he could have become as a union player.
@@Jamie-ye7fu wow! 😅 did I touch a nerve? It seems to be the old 'I don't agree with your opinion so you're wrong' thing with you here doesn't it! If you read my comment fully you'll see I say that there was no reason Burgess couldn't have developed it. It's a difficult game to transition to and expect to be world level. He definitely didn't have the rugby union brain - YET. Calm yourself down. I don't know why you're suggesting I look down my nose at any 'working class plebs'. I'm a Welsh rugby fan - where a huge number of our players and fans are working class.
@@DRM1891 Rugby League fans are just tired of the constant intellectual superiority that you believe Rugby Union to be. Just so dismissive with tired old cliches like "nuance", "culture", and "IQ".
@@Jamie-ye7fu I'm not dismissive of anything at all. I have nothing against rugby league. In fact, whenever I've watched it I really enjoy it admire the pace and skills of it. I'm not going to claim to watch it a lot, because I don't, but I'm sure some of rugby unions biggest talents would struggle to play league at the highest level in the same way Burgess did the other way around. But you just made that up in your head that I have this dismissive attitude towards it. I simply don't.
Sam was really good, I wish he had stayed, he would have grown in to a world class back row.. I don’t know why Stephen Jones is always moanin about him in the times.
@@ay613 You made me watch again and count. 7 tackles made contact with the head with his arm or shoulder. And as most of the video was him attacking and he only made about 9 tackles, 7 out ofd 9 being illegal aint good odds.
@@ianmackney3089 I've watched half the vid again and out of the first 4 I've seen he hasn't tackled the head m8. So not sure what u are on about. U are just exagerrating, which is fine until u get exposed😅. Anyways he was a top player and a legend of English sport. One of the best in league.
@@ay613 Think you need to get the old eyes tested son! 1st tackle (against Ireland) was fine, 2nd tackle was a clothesline (illegal tackle), 3rd tackle was fine, 4th tackle was a duplicate of the secnd tackle so doesn't count, 5th tackle was fine, 6th tackle (Billy V) initially it was a good tackle but his arm travels up and wraps around his neck (illegal tackle), 7th tackle smashes him in the face with his forearm with no attempt to wrap his arms (so two reasons to count as an illegal tackle), 8th tackle smashes the French player in the face with his left shoulder (illegal tackle), 9th tackle smashes a different French player in the face with his right shoulder with no attempt to wrap his arms (so two reasons to count as an illegal tackle), 10th tackle hits player in head his his bicep then slides his arm up around the neck for a seatbelt tackle for good measure (illegal tackle), next play doesn't count as he's not tackling but he still leads into the defender with an elbow to the head (just thought I'd include it to prove to you again how wrong you are), 11th tackle he smashes the player in the head with his right shoulder and holds onto the head whilst he is falling past him to the ground. So, ignoring the 4th tackle as it was a duplicate, he made ten tackles. three of them were legal and seven of them were illegal. Worse than that, of the seven illegal tackles, many of them had more than one infringement where he made illegal contact above the shoulders. So as I said in my first reply to you. Only 3 of his tackles were legal. That stat hasn't changed! I agree one of the people in this coversation has exaggerated and has been exposed, but I'm pretty sure it aint me! Yes he was a legend of rugby league and a damn good rugby union player but let's not pretend he wasn't a dirty player.
Such a shame there was no linking up between the bath and England set ups to come to a joint clear decision about how he was going to be used and in which position! Either a back rower or at 12 he would have been top class at either but should have been given guidance to go for one. Such a shame he could have been unreal for both England and bath long term but they completely messed him around
@@nikolaucznaum4312 ye mate I do agree for sure, but I think he was good enough he could have played in the centre as well! Such a missed opportunity what a 8 or 6 he could have made
@@nikolaucznaum4312 correct, he wanted the work. England wanted (needed) a dominant 12; Bath tried him there but quickly worked out he suited 6 far better. Basically England wanted a clone copy of dual code Sonny Bill Williams into 12 which was an insult to Burgess; different players with different skills & strengths. Burgess didn't have the explosive pace of SBW but was way more physical. With more persistence & support, less undermining from coaches & the ultra competitive Burgess would've made it a successful transition, I'm 100% on that. A case of too many cooks wanting input unfortunately
Agreed, he didn't have the SBW ball skills to play anything other than a crash ball in the backs. The laws of rucks and mauls are easy to understand but hard to put into practice, especially in competitive games. Imagine what he could have become if Eddie got his hands on him!
@@tomrecord2507 Sam Burgess was big and heavy which made him great at crash balls and tackling, but not much else, and because he was muscly and lean, he was a visually formidable, but he was pretty slow and lacked the explosiveness to really play 12 and it would have taken him a while to get the skill set to play flanker. SBW basically played the same position as Burgess in league and has the same big, muscly lean physique as Burgess so can do the crash balls and tackling as well, but is a couple inches smaller and about 5-10kg lighter, which meant he fits the 12 jersey better and he has the hands of a god, so can offload from anywhere, which Burgess couldn't. All Burgess could do, which is what he did as a league player, is catch the ball and run full pelt at a gap in the defensive line. This is great in league, but union is a much more complex sport that requires a greater skillset from players. Given a few years, Burgess could have developed that speed and explosiveness and handling skills and been the best 12 at the 2019 world cup, but sadly not.
Utter nonsense. Watch Eng vs Nz Rugby League 2013. Burgess showed great footwork and live breaks. Over shadowed SBW. Name another player who could come from a different sport and play 6 at club level and 12 at international. That is an amazing feat for a rugby league convert in their first season. You know how good Burgess was don’t be a hater. Imagine Owen Farrell at 6….
Well I mean they also shredded up league players as well I mean it could be just they take the best from league to go to union whereas the general league players wouldn’t make it far in union
SBW took a fair time (and was given it) to get used to union. Jason Robinson was more of a natural. Henry Paul too, just a fabulous footballer (mishandled by Emgland RU), Radradra played union 7s for Fiji before the NRL signed him up. Brad Thorn is probably the best league to union convert as he really had no prior union experience and went into the second row in the scrum for the ABs. Very tough place to play in the sport.
Burgess was trash, saw was overated and hyped up to hell. Robinson was good and Radradra is a union player champ he played 7s before going to league. Thorn is the best but guys like barba,Gasnier,Hunt,mason,marshall and burgess are arse at union.
@James Dan i know. When i watch rugby I'm so interested in the brains of the players. I love it when a game of chess breakes out. All that rugby league physical brutality and fast paced game is rubbish compared to a spelling competition
As a Welsh supporter I'm glad we didn't have to play against Sam any more than we did, but as a rugby supporter I'll always be disappointed at how his time in union was mismanaged
Why did he leave Union so quickly?
@@cliveuuking4602 he was used as a scapegoat for England's awful world cup performance. Thrown straight into the back for England even though he was playing flanker mostly for club
We could have had a world class number 8 to go with Curry and Underhill. Imagine the hits from those three!
@@jbrossa6945 He also plays for Wales...
@@jonathancraig3791 shit 😂😂 for some reason I thought he was talking about Bath.
Sam Simmonds?
Best season Bath had in recent times was when Burgess was amongst it all!
You can tell he is from a well grounded family and his mindset is good.
I have never seen anyone stop Billy Vunipola like that! He was running hard and got knocked backwards in the tackle. A first.
They make them tough in league.
Bundee aki did
Search Zane Kapeli from Tonga who folded Vunipola in the RWC. Unreal hit.
@@stuarthwangbo4876 Yeah but He kind of got man and ball. Vunipola was hardly accelerating into the tackle. Solid hit though for sure.
He’s used to guys as big and bigger running at him at full speed so that was a piece of cake for Sam. League hits are another level to anything union can produce just from the way the game is played.
We will miss you Sam Burgess
Could have done with this guy against SA
Not many players do that to big billy vunipola
Rugby league is tough m8.
the best england back rower who never was.......
Nice vid Burgess is a beast
If only Mike Ford didn’t mess him around, what could have been
And Mike Ford's father?
@@ianmackney3089 what about Mike Fords father?
@@Danimal13 Also check out his documentary "Slammin Sam', he covers most of it in there. A great watch.
@@ianmackney3089 that doesn’t answer my question, What about Mike Ford’s father? Do you even know who Mike Ford is?
@@Danimal13 Sorry read your original comment wrong. I thought you said if George Ford hadn't messed him around. My comment would therefore have been aimed at Mike Ford, who is George's father.
Wish he started out in union or stayed longer. A nightmare in the centres. No one’s running over him
That’s how we mek em in Rugby League........no hiding place on a rugby league paddock!
Yeah I'm union born and bred but you do have some tough fuckers in League. I've always liked Jamie Peacock. Kevin Sinfield gets all the attention from the Leeds team of that era cos of his charity exploits and Union coaching role but I've always thought Peacock was a bloke you just wouldn't want to look in the eye if you'd given less than 100%.
I went to the England Samoa semi at Emirates. Tom Burgess took such a fricking battering that by the end of the game you could see him talking himself into doing another carry, but he did.
That's hard.
Obviously an amazing athlete and world class rugby league player. Didn’t appear to have the IQ for union but no reason why he couldn’t have developed it given more time, but mainly one position to learn and stick with.
Surely back row was the best thing for him, especially given how physical he was.
Ultimately better off in rugby league clearly - however we can’t help but just think how good he could have become as a union player.
You Union fans can't resist the "IQ" bullshit, can you? Stupid northern working-class plebs couldn't simply understand the "nuance" gtfo.
@@Jamie-ye7fu wow! 😅 did I touch a nerve?
It seems to be the old 'I don't agree with your opinion so you're wrong' thing with you here doesn't it!
If you read my comment fully you'll see I say that there was no reason Burgess couldn't have developed it. It's a difficult game to transition to and expect to be world level. He definitely didn't have the rugby union brain - YET.
Calm yourself down. I don't know why you're suggesting I look down my nose at any 'working class plebs'. I'm a Welsh rugby fan - where a huge number of our players and fans are working class.
@@DRM1891 Rugby League fans are just tired of the constant intellectual superiority that you believe Rugby Union to be. Just so dismissive with tired old cliches like "nuance", "culture", and "IQ".
@@Jamie-ye7fu I'm not dismissive of anything at all. I have nothing against rugby league. In fact, whenever I've watched it I really enjoy it admire the pace and skills of it. I'm not going to claim to watch it a lot, because I don't, but I'm sure some of rugby unions biggest talents would struggle to play league at the highest level in the same way Burgess did the other way around.
But you just made that up in your head that I have this dismissive attitude towards it. I simply don't.
@@DRM1891 The thing is Burges didn't struggle, those who manged his transition did!
Sam was really good, I wish he had stayed, he would have grown in to a world class back row.. I don’t know why Stephen Jones is always moanin about him in the times.
Media wankers gotta have something to whine about
@@gilesmerlin8927 great comment!
Because he has an inferiority complex from his school days. Rugby Union is more a boys club in England than actual performance
Great player, nice video.. but what's with the Thomas the Tank Engine music?
LOL
To be fair, many of those tackles were high and would get carded now.
Not many like three at most.
@@ay613 You made me watch again and count. 7 tackles made contact with the head with his arm or shoulder. And as most of the video was him attacking and he only made about 9 tackles, 7 out ofd 9 being illegal aint good odds.
@@ianmackney3089 I've watched half the vid again and out of the first 4 I've seen he hasn't tackled the head m8. So not sure what u are on about. U are just exagerrating, which is fine until u get exposed😅. Anyways he was a top player and a legend of English sport. One of the best in league.
@@ay613 Think you need to get the old eyes tested son!
1st tackle (against Ireland) was fine, 2nd tackle was a clothesline (illegal tackle), 3rd tackle was fine, 4th tackle was a duplicate of the secnd tackle so doesn't count, 5th tackle was fine, 6th tackle (Billy V) initially it was a good tackle but his arm travels up and wraps around his neck (illegal tackle), 7th tackle smashes him in the face with his forearm with no attempt to wrap his arms (so two reasons to count as an illegal tackle), 8th tackle smashes the French player in the face with his left shoulder (illegal tackle), 9th tackle smashes a different French player in the face with his right shoulder with no attempt to wrap his arms (so two reasons to count as an illegal tackle), 10th tackle hits player in head his his bicep then slides his arm up around the neck for a seatbelt tackle for good measure (illegal tackle), next play doesn't count as he's not tackling but he still leads into the defender with an elbow to the head (just thought I'd include it to prove to you again how wrong you are), 11th tackle he smashes the player in the head with his right shoulder and holds onto the head whilst he is falling past him to the ground.
So, ignoring the 4th tackle as it was a duplicate, he made ten tackles. three of them were legal and seven of them were illegal. Worse than that, of the seven illegal tackles, many of them had more than one infringement where he made illegal contact above the shoulders.
So as I said in my first reply to you. Only 3 of his tackles were legal. That stat hasn't changed!
I agree one of the people in this coversation has exaggerated and has been exposed, but I'm pretty sure it aint me!
Yes he was a legend of rugby league and a damn good rugby union player but let's not pretend he wasn't a dirty player.
@@ianmackney3089 Well I disagree m8, I thought no we are both seeing different things.
Could of been England’s superstar. Politics of the game
Such a shame there was no linking up between the bath and England set ups to come to a joint clear decision about how he was going to be used and in which position! Either a back rower or at 12 he would have been top class at either but should have been given guidance to go for one. Such a shame he could have been unreal for both England and bath long term but they completely messed him around
Burges simply did not care for hanging around for a pass in the centre's, he was bored. Most definitely an out and out Back row forward
@@nikolaucznaum4312 ye mate I do agree for sure, but I think he was good enough he could have played in the centre as well! Such a missed opportunity what a 8 or 6 he could have made
@@herb2078 The thing is,he wanted to be in the thick of it in the forwards, and I think he would have drifted out of position,
@@nikolaucznaum4312 correct, he wanted the work. England wanted (needed) a dominant 12; Bath tried him there but quickly worked out he suited 6 far better. Basically England wanted a clone copy of dual code Sonny Bill Williams into 12 which was an insult to Burgess; different players with different skills & strengths. Burgess didn't have the explosive pace of SBW but was way more physical. With more persistence & support, less undermining from coaches & the ultra competitive Burgess would've made it a successful transition, I'm 100% on that. A case of too many cooks wanting input unfortunately
Love em.
Main problem with league players in union is that if they have any speciality union teams dont know how to use them
what hahahaha?
Agreed, he didn't have the SBW ball skills to play anything other than a crash ball in the backs.
The laws of rucks and mauls are easy to understand but hard to put into practice, especially in competitive games.
Imagine what he could have become if Eddie got his hands on him!
@@tomrecord2507 Sam Burgess was big and heavy which made him great at crash balls and tackling, but not much else, and because he was muscly and lean, he was a visually formidable, but he was pretty slow and lacked the explosiveness to really play 12 and it would have taken him a while to get the skill set to play flanker. SBW basically played the same position as Burgess in league and has the same big, muscly lean physique as Burgess so can do the crash balls and tackling as well, but is a couple inches smaller and about 5-10kg lighter, which meant he fits the 12 jersey better and he has the hands of a god, so can offload from anywhere, which Burgess couldn't. All Burgess could do, which is what he did as a league player, is catch the ball and run full pelt at a gap in the defensive line. This is great in league, but union is a much more complex sport that requires a greater skillset from players. Given a few years, Burgess could have developed that speed and explosiveness and handling skills and been the best 12 at the 2019 world cup, but sadly not.
Utter nonsense. Watch Eng vs Nz Rugby League 2013. Burgess showed great footwork and live breaks. Over shadowed SBW. Name another player who could come from a different sport and play 6 at club level and 12 at international. That is an amazing feat for a rugby league convert in their first season. You know how good Burgess was don’t be a hater. Imagine Owen Farrell at 6….
Wasted opportunity, guy could have changed the game
Play anywhere o like it
Song
Every hit a red now 😔
Now can I just say league players are amazing in union like burgess, radrada, SBW, Robinson and many other league players shred up union players
Well I mean they also shredded up league players as well I mean it could be just they take the best from league to go to union whereas the general league players wouldn’t make it far in union
SBW took a fair time (and was given it) to get used to union. Jason Robinson was more of a natural. Henry Paul too, just a fabulous footballer (mishandled by Emgland RU), Radradra played union 7s for Fiji before the NRL signed him up.
Brad Thorn is probably the best league to union convert as he really had no prior union experience and went into the second row in the scrum for the ABs. Very tough place to play in the sport.
Home One ok
Burgess was trash, saw was overated and hyped up to hell. Robinson was good and Radradra is a union player champ he played 7s before going to league. Thorn is the best but guys like barba,Gasnier,Hunt,mason,marshall and burgess are arse at union.
@@mitcholeary1526 how many Union players would make it now in the NRL?
A real shame he was miss managed so badly, imagine if he had been playing at 12 all this time!!!!!!
So many high tackles lol
He should have played as a centre, stupid coaches at Bath played him in the forwards which was never going to work.
Burgess is class but I can't watch it because of the music
mute button
So basically the highlights are high shots and shoulder charges. No wonder England got dumped out of their own world cup.
We lost when he came off.
Dumped out because they took him off lol
Music
Should have stayed in RL
Rugby Union is much better than rugby league. Real man sport.
I don't think even you believe that
@James Dan i know. When i watch rugby I'm so interested in the brains of the players.
I love it when a game of chess breakes out.
All that rugby league physical brutality and fast paced game is rubbish compared to a spelling competition
@James Dan now, you've resorted to insults so early.
I win.
You have nothing to say except insult me.
Sorry.... maybe next time
@James Dan still the insults come...
Since when did a Britishman lose the skill to debate with his peers?
Not its not 😂 you can literally have your dinner in a rugby game with all the stoppages.
Vunipola is not known for a strong runner anyways.. runs too high
totally overrated, these highlights are garbo. People are just attracted to the celebrity side
He absolutely banged Englands starting 8 and chosen carrier from deep kicks. Hardly overrated