The former England captain Martin Corry doubts that Sam Burgess has enough time to prove himself worthy of a place in Stuart Lancaster’s World Cup squad.
Burgess was officially unveiled by Bath on Thursday after completing his high-profile move from rugby league. The 25-year-old will have to wait until December for his debut as he recovers from a fractured cheekbone and eye socket. However, Corry fears England 2015 may come to soon.
“I don’t want to get caught up in all this hype,” Corry told the BBC. “Sam has to come out and prove himself. The timeframe does scare me – can someone be fast-tracked so quickly?”
Doubt hangs over Burgess’s best position in union with Bath viewing him as a back-row, while England have identified him as a possible solution to their long-term problems at inside-centre.
Corry, who won 64 caps in a distinguished Test career that ended in 2007, believes Burgess’s power game and off-loading skills are best suited to the midfield.
“Bath want him in the back row and England want him in the centre,” Corry said. “The danger is Bath may have the problems Andy Farrell had with his integration, whereby Saracens started using him in the back row before realising he should be playing in the centres.
“I’d like to see him play at 12 because that’s where England could use him and the position where he could be a game-changer in exactly the same way Sonny Bill Williams is used by New Zealand. The problem is that Bath’s two centres are playing some phenomenal rugby. Do they leave out Kyle Eastmond for someone who is as yet unproven?”
Lancaster, the England coach, is keen to let Burgess settle in at Bath. “Obviously I’ve spoken to him during the period when we knew he was going to arrive here, but I’ll leave him pretty much to bed in at Bath,” Lancaster said earlier this week. “I’m sure he’ll have one eye on our games, but I think he’ll need to get bedded in at Bath.”
