Why the Sam Burgess affair is not good for either Union or League? #Rugby

Sam Burgess, the golden boy of Rugby League, will now be tarnished as a failure in Rugby Union.

The fact that he has decided to walk away rather than give himself a chance to make amends, leaves a rather bitter taste in a lot of England (& Bath Rugby) supporters.

He was unveiled by the RFU as a real coup - and was to break into the England squad and help in trying to win the Rugby World Cup. The fact that know one knew which position he would play in or whether he could get to grips with the rules was another story all together.

I think it's safe to say that everyone who is or has been involved in rugby knew that time was too short and he needed at least 2 plus years. He had very limited involvement in the build up to the tournament and wasn't even first choice for most matches behind the likes of Luther Burrell and Kyle Eastmond or Manu Tuilagi (if he wasn't injured or suspended).

The Rugby World Cup squad was to be announced and the talk of the squad was whether Sam Burgess would be in or out - but the fact that he was brought in by the RFU he was always going to be included!

I'm not going to dwell too much on how England did but suffice to say that I had no preconceptions of how well they would do as four years too early for this team. Unfortunately Sam Burgess has now become the scapegoat for the whole debacle.

When the review is done on England's performance there is one thing that has to be discussed and that is the continuing belief that Rugby League players can successfully convert to Rugby Union.

Now I'm only talking Northern Hemisphere here but there are only a handful of players that have successfully converted and been able to play at the top level - namely Jason Robinson and Chris Ashton. If I've missed anyone else I apologise.

I really do believe that we must stop looking at League players and saying they would good Union players because it ain't going to happen.

There are plenty of promising young Rugby Union players in the Premiership and the Championship that should be looked at for the next Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.

Now is the time to build towards that and only look at Rugby Union players - after all that is why they've chosen to play the sport they love!