Rugby code-swapper Sam Burgess on Wednesday said he is “very content” with his decision to return to Australian rugby league after a year playing union in , adding that the switch had made him a better athlete.
Burgess touched down in Sydney on Wednesday morning to return to the National Rugby League’s South Sydney Rabbitohs after playing union at Bath and representing England in the World Cup.
The 26-year-old quit the Rabbitohs, who are owned by Hollywood star Russell Crowe, last year in a bid to join England, but following their disastrous World Cup decided to return to Australia.
“It is different training to what I’ve done in the backline and as a forward in rugby union, so I think it improves me as an athlete all round,” Burgess told reporters in Sydney.
“I enjoyed the sport but I think deep down rugby league gave me something different to rugby union.
“It’s not a mock of rugby union at all because I certainly respect what the players go through in that game and what they do.
“For me personally I just think rugby league, you play with passion and heart and I think that is where my heart lies in rugby league.”
Burgess brushed off criticism about his stint as a union player and said he was proud of what he achieved in the 15-a-side game.
“Everyone may say it was a failure but if you saw the work I put in and the commitment it took to get in that position, I’m very proud of what I achieved,” he said.
England became the worst-performing host nation in World Cup history after failing to progress from the group stages.
Bath head coach Mike Ford has criticised Burgess’s return to South Sydney just 12 months into his three-year deal, claiming the 26-year-old “didn’t have the stomach” to stay and fight.
Burgess said Wednesday that Ford “is entitled to what he has to say but that’s more of a reflection of him than me”.
He added that he missed the “non-stop… constant physical battle in the game of rugby league”.