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Sam Burgess flourishes on return to rugby league fold at South Sydney | Aaron Bower

The failed switch to union, played out amid huge publicity as England were knocked out of the World Cup, has forged a better man and a better playerAs the world asked what was next for Sam Burgess after England’s miserable exit from last year’s Rugby World Cup, the wheels were already turning behind the scenes. Within weeks he was shuttling through Sydney airport. Returning to rugby league felt like the only logical answer to the question.To describe Burgess’s time in rugby union as a whirlwind is an understatement. He made his debut as a substitute centre for Bath against Harlequins on 28 November 2014. By 30 January he was playing for England Saxons against the Irish Wolfhounds; on 10 April...

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England’s run of serious training injuries is about more than bad luck | Robert Kitson

After the injuries to Sam Jones and Anthony Watson, it seems players are beginning to buckle under the demands placed on them by club and countryAs Eddie Jones is discovering, there is no such thing as a mellow autumn for an England coach. His predecessors Martin Johnson and Stuart Lancaster often had to scrape bits of their squads off the floor before the November internationals and history is starting to repeat itself.Already Manu Tuilagi, James Haskell, Sam Jones and now Anthony Watson are out of contention, with Owen Farrell, Dylan Hartley and Ben Te’o yet to prove their fitness and the first two rounds of the European Champions’ Cup still to come. So far so normal. The difference this time,...

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