Sam Burgess bites back: I’m not afraid to say I missed mum, admits player as he arrives in Sydney to resume his rugby league career

Sam Burgess could hardly have been further away from the scene of the World Cup crime as he arrived in Sydney for the resumption of his rugby league career, but he could not escape the fall-out from his brief stay in the union game with Bath and England.

Just as Twickenham was preparing to announce the departure of Stuart Lancaster as head coach following the national team’s misfire at their own global event, Burgess could be heard responding to some stinging criticism from his former boss in the West Country.

Mike Ford, the Bath head coach, had accused the Yorkshireman of “not having the stomach to see out his contract” at the Recreation Ground. His target was having none of it. “He’s entitled to say what he wants, but I think that’s more a reflection on him than on me,” Burgess commented. “What did he say? That I miss my mum? Who doesn’t miss their mum? I’m not afraid to say that.”

Burgess will be joining two of his brothers at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the side he helped to the Australian title last year before beginning his ill-starred flirtation with the 15-man code. His mother has also taken up residence and has a teaching job at one of city’s leading schools.

While the Bath players – and, indeed, many of the England squad – were less than convinced about Burgess’ credentials as a front-line union player, the player himself felt he had given something of value to the game.

“I went there, I met some cool people and I had a great time learning a new game,” he said. “I played 20-odd games for Bath and made five appearances for my country in a short space of time. Everyone is saying that was a failure, but if you saw the work that went in, the commitment it took to get in that position, I’m proud of what I achieved.”

It was Burgess’ commitment – or, rather, his perceived lack of it – that led both Ford and his son George, the England outside-half who played alongside the cross-coder at club level and during the World Cup, to speak of him in the way they did earlier this week.

Ford Jr was particularly sharp on the subject, criticising Burgess for turning his back on colleagues who had sacrificed a good deal in helping him get to grips with a form of rugby far more complex than the one in which he had made his reputation.

Yet Burgess insisted he had handed a difficult situation well. “Very few of my friends, my team-mates with Bath and England, would question that,” he said. “Percentage wise there might be one or two, but it doesn’t affect me much. I have no regrets about going and no regrets about coming back. I was going to be a flanker at Bath and it was going to take 18 months to nail that down and play at the top level. By then I was going to be 28 or 29. I had to weigh up what was in my heart.”