England
Woodward backs Burgess for World Cup
ESPN Staff
December 9, 2014
Burgess has played a few, very well-documented minutes of rugby union for Bath but Sir Clive Woodward is backing him to succeed © Getty Images
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England World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward has backed Bath's rugby league convert to succeed in union and to represent England at the World Cup on home soil next year.

Former South Sydney Rabbitohs star Burgess will make his first start for Bath on Friday night against Montpellier after a pair of highly-scrutinised appearances off the bench over the last two weekends.

Debate has raged as to whether he will achieve what so few have and succeed in both rugby union and league, let alone in time to appear at the 2015 World Cup. England coach Stuart Lancaster is eyeing an outing for the second-string England Saxons in January as a litmus test for his readiness for the challenge of international rugby. Woodward believes the 25-year-old can make an impact in union.

"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 told PA Sport.

"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. Burgess is looking at inside centre which is one of the toughest positions to play in terms of understanding the game.

"He's the number one 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 started three different players - Kyle Eastmond, Owen Farrell and Billy Twelvetrees - at inside centre during their four autumn series Tests and the make-up of the midfield remains a headache for Lancaster and his team,with Brad Barritt, Luther Burrell, Manu Tuilagi and Burgess all in contention.

"I wouldn't call inside centre a problem position, it just seems to be that England are revolving selection a lot," Woodward 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."

Three successive runners-up finishes have made winning the Six Nations a priority for England seven months out from the World Cup, but Woodward insists they should look no further than the opener against Wales at the Millennium Stadium on February 6.

"You could lose every game between now and the World Cup but still win the World Cup," he 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."

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