Sun 7 Dec 2014 | 01:59
Sam Burgess throws his body around in the Montpellier mud

23
Comments

Sam Burgess played just 28 minutes in his second outing for Bath, a 30-5 Champions Cup pool stage win over Montpellier. He came off the bench and got stuck in as only he can, throwing his considerable weight around, but almost landing in hot water.

Bath led 23-0 at the break so by the time he came on, the victory was all but secured as Montpellier struggled after having two players sent to the sin bin in the first half. Bath scored three tries in total, one to prop Henry Thomas, a penalty try and then a second half score for Leroy Houston.

Burgess' was eased into the game in a comfortable situation again, although that can't be said for the weather, which was miserable. He did well to impose himself, but was lucky that the referee chose not to taker a more stringent view of the tackle on Charles Geli that got the crowd fired up.

"That's the way he is. We're not going to change hi," said Bath coach Mike Ford of the tackle.

"He's going to be our enforcer a little bit with the way he defends. We're pleased with where he is.

When asked if he was thinking about giving Burgess his first start next weekend, Ford said: "Yes, I am. But we will watch the game, review it and decide early next week.

"It's disappointing that both games he has come on it has been raining, so we've not had much chance to use him, but he has done well so far," the Bath coach, and father of George, added.

Bath lost their opening two European Rugby Champions Cup matches, so this win takes them to five points in total, three behind Toulouse and four away from Glasgow Warriors.

Those two meet this afternoon, so the chances of Bath making the knockout stages are slim. Whatever happens, all eyes will be on Slammin Sam Burgess as his rugby union journey continues.

23 Comments

  • drg
    7:43 AM 10/12/2014

    I understand where you're coming from, but whilst I may not be a 'seasoned explosive athlete' like Burgess, none of my opponents are 'seasoned explosive athletes' either... unlike Burgess opposition.

    I do agree with you, he's had a career in league and this was his second(?) union game(?)... so he's not going to be straight on the money straight away. The issue is, that:

    a) There is a huge amount of hype following a guy that you and I have both admitted isn't quite there yet. So imo, shouldn't the media, us, etc give the guy some quiet time to get on with his own stuff without feeling like he needs to impress us straight away...
    b) These are two crappy tackles (everyone makes crappy tackles) yet they still make a highlight reel, which leads back into point a).
    c) He came very close (imo) to getting carded, which again; taking into account point a), could have seriously damaged his career prospects, BECAUSE, of point a)...

    I back Sam Burgess as much as I back any player that steps on the field trying to progress in the world. I don't wish anyone failure in their dream, I'd like to see him become a renowned name, however as Canadian content said with his 'brain not brawn' comment, if Burgess relies on his physicality and size he might find himself in a pickle in the future, especially if his tackles are clumsy and relatively high... How many times have the dear Tuilagi's; or Samoans/Tongans etc in general, got pinged for what turns out to be a fairly legal looking tackle, because they go flying in like madmen with poor technique...

    I believe we're on the same page, I think you're looking at the situation as someone who believes Burgess is Englands next move. I think I'm looking at it as someone who rather wait until he develops into Englands next move, than award him that title prematurely...

  • 2:50 AM 10/12/2014

    A) dude he's standing straight up in the tackle, not dipping his shoulder or bending at the waist at all. Lomu was bigger than this guy and more explosive and he was able to tackle lower than that. Lydiate is 6'6 and is the best low tackler in world rugby, it's about technique.

    B) since when does being too explosive not allow u to get low?

    C) still interested to see how he progresses but it will be his brain that helps him succeed not his brawn

  • dirtylittlescrumbag
    10:19 PM 09/12/2014

    But with all due respect you're probably not the same sort of seasoned explosive athlete Burgess is. He's used to dominating in one of the (if not THE) most physical team sports in the world. It's bound to take him some time to iron out any 'bad habits' he's learnt from league. I can assure you he'll do far worse tackles than this during his union career, best get those yellow cards out the way early before he even thinks about international rugby.

  • drg
    8:04 PM 09/12/2014

    Are many people giving him abuse though?

    I hope you don't perceive the comments on here as abusive. WelshOsprey is not exactly known for his tactfulness with comments, however he has a very good case.. If it was Wilkinson, Lomu, Richie, (insert favourite player here) who performed these tackles, most people would admit they're pretty crap... Yeh sure, player went down, but every giant slab of meat can throw himself and someone and flatten them... As below, the problem occurs when the referee takes a dim view towards the tackle. In my opinion, the tackle on Ranger; in this day and age, was questionable, I'd have not been surprised if a referee had yellow carded him for it.

    Perhaps I am unnecessarily repeating myself, but again I have well wishes for Burgess and I hope he achieves and makes a huge difference to England, but for me I think the hype is stupid and potentially damaging. Lets say for instance that the first tackle on Ranger had resulted in a zealous red card for what appeared to me as a bit of a swinging arm? What would the media and public say then? Especially as you and I would look between it and cut the bloke some slack, but you know the media and scrutiny wouldn't give him an inch...

  • drg
    7:47 PM 09/12/2014

    Sam Warburton was on here mentioning running your hand across the grass as you enter a ruck - that way you know you're low enough. - he's 6'2.. I can't imagine that extra 3 inches means that Burgess is unable to get low enough.

    I'm 6'5-6'6.. using the 'I'm tall' excuse is just trying to excuse ones laziness... It's easier for me to go high on a small bloke, plus I can tackle them and the ball, however I'm not incapable of going low and neither is Burgess.. Perhaps its the league influence and he's yet to develop his technique. Of course it is effective at the moment, but he could very easily get pinged for being that high, especially the arm around the head of Ranger... which is not effective and extremely detrimental...

  • danknapp
    7:00 AM 09/12/2014

    Folau can do all of those things... but his kicking isn't all that good. He's still a fecking freak though - top, top player.

  • dirtylittlescrumbag
    3:31 AM 09/12/2014

    He's 6'5 mate, it's like an average size back tackling a hobbit, the tackle will often look high because of the size discrepancy. I keep forgetting myself how big this guy actually is, bigger even than most union forwards.

  • 10stonenumber10
    3:27 AM 09/12/2014

    Folau is a freak of nature. NRL, AFL, Super15, what next, cricket and basketball? Burgess and SBW are heavyweights. Physicality is simpler to nullify than speed of thought, Folau is dangerous because he is an all round player capable of literally anything... 50m touch finder, step 3 people, or leap 10ft in the air for a high ball. You can read what SB/SBW will do before they have the ball, still doesn't mean you can do much about it though...

  • 3:19 AM 09/12/2014

    Every time this guy hits he's high, watched the game, I'd be screaming at my high school kids for standing so high in rucks, he was useless. The defence of his tackles by the commentators was hilarious. Are they scared to be too judgemental of the leaguey or are they that delirious enough to think he can carry on like this for England.

    Give him time, he's a long way off from being effective for England.

    When's the last time u saw an all black play with that type of reckless abandon?

  • drg
    9:41 PM 08/12/2014

    I'm not talking so much about shoulder charges/hits/collisions as much as the arm to the chops... commonly known as a 'swinging arm'... the commentators said it didn't look like he swung the arm in (just as the video appeared to show otherwise...)

  • dirtylittlescrumbag
    9:14 PM 08/12/2014

    Shoulder charges are illegal in league too, they changed the rule while Burgess was still in the NRL so he should be used to officials picking up on that. Some of the tackles in league might look a bit more wild but (as far as I know) the rules regarding tackling are pretty much the same.

  • reality
    6:20 PM 08/12/2014

    I think that's what the commentators were getting at. He doesn't know how to tackle in union. He's too used to shoulder charges. Tackling in league is different to union not only because of the different rules about wrapping your arms but also because there's no ruck to worry about for the attacker and the defender so you don't need to think about your support and what effect your interaction will have on them.

  • drg
    3:49 PM 08/12/2014

    Sorry to add another comment, I completely forgot to comment on that first tackle... no one seems to be making any comment on the fact that Burgess forearm ends up round Rangers jaw, and his bicep round Rangers head... seemed to me like is 'swung' if you ask me...

  • drg
    3:45 PM 08/12/2014

    I hope my previous comments on Burgess have not started band wagon, on which people are readily hopping... I certainly was concerned at the amount of hype surrounding Burgess and unfortunately my concerns are continuing.

    People have highlighted and labelled these as 'two crappy tackles'.. they're not great I'll admit that... in fact they're pretty awful.. but the thing I find incredible is that it's made a highlight reel.. RD, I had a moan recently about content, but I appreciate that Sam Burgess, is very much 'current affairs' - what concerns me however is that these tackles, if made by any other player, would not get it's own section on RD - in fact there are a fair few 'awful tackles' every weekend, none of which end up on RD (unless they're spectacularly bad)... - so again, this isn't a dig at RD, you're keeping up with the current trends, however I'm amazed that this hype surrounding Burgess can continue to gather snow in the form of these tackles...

    Obviously I don't like the idea of starting up a '#hateonsam' kind of thing because he's a spectacular athlete, I'm just again voicing my concern that it appears that people are already celebrating Englands world cup campaign because this one man is going to be the key...

    Put it this way: My local team + Sam Burgess is still not going to beat any international team that comes in front of us purely based on the fact we have Sam Burgess... unless he gets decent ball from the 10, support from the other players, then there is only so much 1 man can do...

  • 12:59 PM 08/12/2014

    He's a big lad. But... I watched Israel Folau's tribute on youtube this morning and... What a magician. He made the cross over look simple.
    His first internationnal touch against the Lions he was just world class. I don't know how long he played club level before getting selected for the aussies (does anyone know?) but I can't see Burgess being wolrd class at Union. He has a different skill set. Maybe Bath are right and should play him a 8 or flanker but...as everyone is saying he's got a long way to go at rucking skills before he would be a great flanker. I'm a big england rugby fan, and hope he does well and good luck to him, but I don't think he has the natural talent (the right natural talent) for union. Just a gut feeling. Hopefuly I will proved wrong.

  • stroudos
    9:49 PM 07/12/2014

    Actually, watching the first one again, especially the slow-mo around 20 seconds in, it does look like the first bath tackler was about to be properly Rearrangered - bounces off just before Burgress intervenes. So perhaps he was grateful for be clattered by his team-mate instead...

  • reality
    7:49 PM 07/12/2014

    Probably the most banal couple of non-events that I've ever seen. People seem desperate not to admit that Burgess was hyped up far too much and will never be able to live up to the expectations that people have of him. Making a highlights video of him pushing someone into touch and messing up a tackle is the proof.

  • welshosprey
    6:38 PM 07/12/2014

    All the games on this weekend and RD chooses to post this, two crappy tackles. Really?

  • 10stonenumber10
    6:17 PM 07/12/2014

    That knee in the screen cap looks suspiciously close to the family jewels... Definitely a leaguer, when he hits he makes sure he lands on/across you. Good for slowing the ball down, bad if he doesn't like the taste of old skool rucking!

  • mozz87
    5:46 PM 07/12/2014

    Yeah nothing in either of those hits, you can see why some refs may have seen it differently though, the way tackles are refereed these days. Agree with Stroudos though, if he hit him 12 inches lower it would've been a stonking hit!

  • 10stonenumber10
    5:38 PM 07/12/2014

    The second shot was a 'catch and hug', except the montpelier player ducked under him and got a face full of collarbone instead. Clumsy, but good to see him throwing himself about, and wrapping the arms!

  • bloblabli
    5:35 PM 07/12/2014

    yep if he got his technique right he will be freaking devastating what a prospect for England!

  • stroudos
    4:44 PM 07/12/2014

    Tried to Rearranger the Rearrangerer! Clattering his own player in the process...

    12 inches lower on the second and it would have been more aesthetically pleasing, probably more effective too.

    Looking forward to seeing more of the big man.