Rugby league convert Sam Burgess will make his international debut on Friday after being named in the second-string England Saxons team to face the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork.
Burgess will partner Elliot Daly at centre and Saxons coach Jon Callard says he has been impressed by what he has seen from the 26-year-old Bath player so far.
“I’ve watched Sam from afar in how he’s evolving in the game. He’s an impressive character,” Callard said on Thursday.
“We’re all excited for Sam, but we’re taking it very, very calmly. There’s plenty of time for him to develop.
“There’s huge expectation, obviously, but it’s an opportunity to test the waters at this level, see where he is, then reassess and put another plan together.”
Burgess only joined Bath from South Sydney Rabbitohs last October, but has been tipped to stake a claim for a place in England head coach Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the World Cup.
With Burgess still coming to terms with the change of codes, Callard said that he and his staff would try to avoid leaving him exposed against a strong Wolfhounds team.
“The challenge for us is creating a game-plan to get the best of him, and all the others too,” said Callard.
“Individually he might make some errors, and I think he will live with that and learn from that.
“If he does get exposed it will be about the system we’ve tried to put in place, either a defensive framework or attacking framework.
“I do not think it would be an individual exposure. It would be because the system wasn’t correct.”
– World Cup dream –
Burgess has heard all the talk of a potential call-up to England’s squad for the World Cup, but he isn’t getting carried away just yet and was quick to quash speculation that he could even be drafted in for the forthcoming Six Nations.
“I think it’s a bit premature,” Burgess said of his Six Nations chances. “A lot of people are asking me things that are happening down the track that I obviously can’t control.
“I’ve just got to take it week by week, it’s a mentality I’ve used all last year. And that’s what I’m going to do this year too.
“I’ve got to work hard at preparing myself both mentally and physically, then try to perform at the weekend — but then I’ll start that again on the following Monday.
“So I’m not going to look too far ahead and get too caught up in what’s going on outside the group.”
The 26-year-old also revealed his former South Sydney team-mates have been teasing him over his decision to leave league, but he has tried to silence them by claiming union is a far more physical sport than he ever realised.
“We played against Leicester and a stat must have come up on the TV that I made 15 metres in the whole game or something,” he said.
“You’d try to make that in one carry in league, so the boys were giving me stick saying that I’m getting lazy.
“But I’m going to give it my all, I’ve not thought about going back.
“I just wanted a test and a challenge, and I guess this (the Saxons match) will be the biggest challenge yet.”