European Champions Cup
Sam Burgess: Union is harder than it looks
ESPN Staff
December 12, 2014
Sam Burgess makes a break against Montpellier last Friday © Getty Images
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Sam Burgess will make his first start in rugby union on Friday evening and has admitted the switch from one code to another has been harder than he imagined.

Burgess came into union with a huge billing having established himself as one of the stars of rugby league. After a spell out injured, Burgess has made two substitute appearances in the centres for Bath but starts his first game against Montpellier on Friday.

Burgess could yet end up in the forwards but as he takes his first steps in union as a back, he has admitted the XV code was harder than he imagined. "Without wishing to sound disrespectful to anyone, the game's a lot harder than I thought," Burgess told BT Sport. "It's harder than it looks."

Against Montpellier last Friday, Burgess found himself in hot water on a couple of occasions with his tackling and it is something he is addressing. "It's definitely something I have to change," he said. "It's very hard to change a habit you've had for 12 to 15 years. You get taught to tackle completely differently to how you get taught here.

"I am trying to change that. I think I made a few erratic tackles last week; sitting on the bench for 60 minutes, I had too much energy. It's probably a bit of excitement more than anything, in time I will settle in and do the technical tackle."

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