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Burgess to renew rivalry with Kiwi 'wrecking ball'
THE hype around their potential re-match is inevitable.
Sam Burgess goes up against New Zealand and Fuifui Moimoi tomorrow night for the first time since he famously dumped the feared Kiwi with an almighty, bone-crunching tackle.
Nothing too amazing there, you may think, but the Bradford Bulls youngster was just a fledgling 18-year-old prop forward making his Test debut.
Where hardened and seasoned front-rowers had tried and failed countless times before, Burgess just rolled up and thundered in against the man they call the 'human-wrecking ball'. Twice.
To add to the sense of drama, tomorrow's Gillette Four Nations contests takes place at the same venue – Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium – but Burgess knows producing a repeat feat will be a stern challenge.
"I certainly rate Fuifui," he said. "He is big, strong and has been running well all year in the NRL.
"I saw what he did for Parramatta in their Grand Final and it was pretty devastating.
"He's a tough competitor but New Zealand have got a full pack like that – big guys who can run. It would be stupid of us to signal out Fuifui as all the rest can damage you."
Burgess, who will be seeing more of the rampaging prop when he joins South Sydney next season, insists he never set out purposely to engage in that explosive running war with Moimoi. He had just been named Super League Young Player of the Year and was Great Britain's youngest debutant forward since Andy Farrell in 1993.
New Zealand targeted him, the pressure was on and it was understandable how the tyro may have decided to go and make a name for himself.
But Burgess – whose 'shot' became a huge hit on YouTube and saw him placed on report – recalled: "I didn't feel like that at all. I just wanted to go in and enjoy myself. If I do that, I play well.
"What happened happened but that's two years ago. I'm just concentrating on this game this week and going out and winning it."
Kiwi coach Steve Kearney has warned Burgess that Moimoi is a "different specimen" to 2007, just like the side as a whole.
France's own talismanic forward Jamal Fakir went looking for him on Saturday and twice ended up on his backside while New Zealand have a new crop of brutish forwards stamping their authority too.
Giant second-row Jared Waera-Hargreaves, 20, made a Burgess-like Test debut against Australia a fortnight ago, marauding around hammering anyone in sight.
"He goes hard," admitted Burgess. "He hits pretty hard and runs hard too. He looks pretty pumped up and that's good to see. We'll see what he does this week."
After Saturday's loss against Australia, England must beat the world champions to progress to next week's Elland Road final.
Trailing 26-0 at the break, they gleaned plenty from their second-half performance in Wigan.
Burgess' powerful arrival off the bench helped transform their game, his try starting the comeback that ultimately fell 10 points short.
He delivered some typically bruising tackles and made his presence felt with some punishing carries.
Burgess "enjoyed" himself so it was no coincidence he played so well in his first outing against the Australians but he believes New Zealand will provide England's biggest test yet.
"The Kiwis have lost the fear factor," he added.
"They are a winning side now. They are a lot stronger and are a reasonably different team to the one we faced in 2007.
"It's going to be a lot different to then. It's going to be tough, probably tougher than playing the Aussies.
"Their boys played tough but the Kiwis are a team of fighters.
"They are all full of passion and once they sing that Haka it's war time for them. We're expecting a tough challenge but we're all looking forward to it."
Burgess admits being startled
by how fast his own career has progressed since his try-scoring debut against the Kiwis.
"It doesn't seem that long ago at all," he said. "As Great Britain we'd not won a series for 14 years so I just remember it being such a big achievement and it was a great feeling to be a part of that.
"But now we have to do it with England and get to this final.
"It's massive for us as a nation if we're serious about what we want to do.
"We really need to win this match and we realise, as a team, that time is going by and we're not doing great.
"Having said that, we know if we make that final anything can happen. The Kiwis have shown that recently with the World Cup.
"We know what's at stake and we're looking forward to getting out there and putting right a few wrongs.
"There is pressure building but we can stop all that if we put a couple of solid performances together at the back end of this tournament."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Friday 10 February 2012
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