Burgess gets his own back in the end

SAM Burgess kept his counsel after the 2015 World Cup meltdown.

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He did so despite the then Bath father-and-son duo of coach Mike Ford and fly-half George Ford being heavily critical of the NRL star as he winged it back to Australia to pick up his career with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

However, this week Burgess, who has recently retired due to a severe shoulder injury, came out fighting. He had been deeply upset by the way he had been pilloried by the Fords, with a large slice of the blame for the 2015 debacle being laid at his door.

I do not blame Burgess for fighting back, especially as Mike Ford had made the mistake of saying that a player whose durability and courage is a byword in the Australian Rugby League, lacked commitment.

Ford senior’s words that “he didn’t have the stomach to see out his Bath contract”, had not been forgotten by Burgess. The same applied to this slagging off by Ford junior:

“I thought Sam was going to come back to the club – to stick it out, to have a go… we’re really disappointed. Massively disappointed. He signed a three-year deal and you know what you’re doing… you commit to the club and to the players, to the staff and to the supporters. There are lads here who would die for the club, who have sacrificed a lot for it – and sacrificed a lot for Sam too.”

Burgess counter-attacked, blaming both the coach and his son – who is currently re-united at Leicester – for his exit, and pulled no punches by saying that he had ended his Bath contract two years early because what he could not stomach was working with Mike Ford.