Sam Burgess’ omission from England’s final World Cup match on Saturday has led to immediate speculation the cross-code convert will return to rugby league, the latest in a long list of players who failed to make their mark in union.
With a good lashing of irony, England’s run-out against Uruguay at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium comes on the same day Leeds play Wigan in the Super League Grand Final across town at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
Bookmakers have since closed their books on Burgess returning to league with the Rhinos, although his union club Bath insist he will remain with them.
Burgess’ dilemma highlights the problems facing players crossing codes, an act that continues to polarise opinion.
In the early professional days of union, there was a clamour to bring in what was seen as fresh, attackingly-minded backs from league.
When Jason Robinson left Wigan in 1996, he quickly excelled at union and became a key part of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning squad and one of the few converts to play both for Britain in league and the British and Irish Lions in union.
Robinson, however, was a winger and, generally speaking, back three players face the least dramatic transition given the broadly similar demands of both games.
Vastly differing from league are union’s technical challenges in set-piece play (scrum and line-out), a labryinth of rules surrounding the breakdown and tackle area, different defensive patterns and the ability to embrace a good kicking game. It is no coincidence that league fans refer to union as the “kick and clap” game.
League players are often heralded as game-breaking players with high fitness levels offering physical hardness in the tackle and offloading skills.
Burgess certainly ticked all those boxes and was duly parachuted into the England set-up just 10 months after crossing codes after he bowed out of league with a man-of-the-match display as the South Sydney Rabbitohs won Australia’s NRL Grand Final.
There is no doubt that that seemingly went against everything England coach Stuart Lancaster had said about the need for development and team building, as well as being embarrassing for a country with an already large player pool.
The number of successful cross-code converts from league is not a long one, New Zealand’s Benji Marshall, England’s Joel Tompkins and Wales’ Iestyn Harris among the high-profile names to have tried and returned.
It is a struggle for midfield players, Robinson’s fellow code breakers Andy Farrell — one of Lancaster’s coaching staff and father of England fly-half Owen — and Henry Paul both struggling to come to terms with union’s greater complexity for all their success in league.
Burgess is a powerful figure at 6ft 5in (1m 96cm) and 18 stone (114 kg) and has spent most of his time with Bath playing in the backrow, spending hours learning the intricacies of scrum and line-out play, the latter non-existent in the 13-man game.
Bath coach Mike Ford sees him as a blindside flanker, but his strong handling and offloading skills saw Lancaster pick him in the centre. That is a lot for one player, no matter how gifted, to take on board in 10 months.
Burgess’ handling skills often see him compared to New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams, who helped the All Blacks win the 2011 World Cup in union before returning to league to represent the Kiwis in 2013 and is now back with the All Blacks.
Another league convert continuing to impress is Israel Folau, the Australian full-back whose penchant for running from deep remains deeply reminiscent of a player from the 13-a-side code. He has added a good kicking game to complement his all-round play.
Brad Thorn is the highest-profile league-to-union forward convert, a rarity given the rule complexities to be tackled.
Thorn, who retired last season at the age of 40, won eight caps in the 13-man game for Australia, while winning several NRL titles with the Brisbane Broncos.
The New Zealand-born Thorn then made the switch to rugby union before returning to league, only to cross codes again in 2008.
In all, he won 50 caps for the All Blacks and was a key member of the New Zealand side that won the 2011 World Cup. Perseverance, Thorn insists, is key for any wannabe converts.
“People say ‘oh the games (union and league) are getting more the same’. Well, guess what, they’re a lot different,” Thorn said.
“When you first come from league, you’re two, three seconds behind every little play. And then over time it starts to get in your system and you just start to do those things.
“And the important thing is you start to enjoy the game more and you start to understand it.
“My big goal was I wanted people to look on the paddock and not see 14 rugby players and a league guy, I wanted them to see me and go ‘there’s a rugby player’.”