Former England centre Sam Burgess has said that selfish players and individual egos were to blame for England failing to advance from the Pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
England became the first host nation in Rugby World Cup history to fail to advance from the Pool stages after losing to both Australia and Wales in the competition.
Stuart Lancaster and Andy Farrell were both subsequently dismissed from the England coaching staff as a result but Burgess insists the players cost the aforementioned coaches their jobs.
I seem to be getting a few tweets regarding the Rugby WC in 2015….Still. If people actually rewatched the games I participated in You will see I added to the team. What cost us an early exit was individual egos and selfish players not following our leader. Which ….
— Sam Burgess (@SamBurgess8) November 27, 2018
Essentially cost the coach and other great men their jobs. Tournaments are not won by the coaching staff or one player. It takes a commitment from the full group. I guarantee you this, I was committed but others had their own agendas. I have fond memories of my time in RU
— Sam Burgess (@SamBurgess8) November 27, 2018
And some great friends. One day I will tell my side of the story but for now I love watching @EnglandRugby and cannot wait to see them as they prepare for the 2019 WC in Japan.
— Sam Burgess (@SamBurgess8) November 27, 2018
Lancaster took full responsibility for England’s performance and said that the Red Rose had a promising future, however, he said that the pain from that defeat has stuck with him to this day.
“You’ll never change what happened,” Lancaster said earlier this year.
“The pain of being the head coach in a home World Cup and not qualifying will stay with me forever but there’s no doubt about it; the decision to come to Leinster is the best decision I ever could have made. There’s no doubt in my mind.
“A fantastic group of players, great staff to work with and to achieve success helps massively.”
Lancaster said that his assistant coach at England, current Ireland assistant Andy Farrell, had convinced him that moving to Leinster was a straight forward decision and that he would inherit a talented team that just needed some co-ordination.
“I knew I was coming to a good team, there’s no doubt in my mind,” added Lancaster earlier this year.
“I was lucky that I got a tip-off from Andy Farrell that I would have to think about this one because he had coached a lot of the players and he knew how good they were.
“The season before I arrived Leinster had lost to Connacht in the final, Europe hadn’t gone so well, so I had watched those games and I could see the talent in the team and I thought they just needed a little bit of co-ordination.
“We came close last year, two semi-finals, but to achieve the double this year – which no team has achieved in the PRO14 – it’s only Saracens and one or two other teams that have achieved it domestically – it’s an exceptional group of players.”
