Inglis is sure banned Burgess will look to place much tighter rein on his emotions

Sam BurgessSam Burgess
Sam Burgess
Australia centre Greg Inglis expects his South Sydney team-mate Sam Burgess to work on improving his discipline after becoming the first player to receive a ban at rugby league’s World Cup.

The former Bradford forward was branded a “thug” in one Australian newspaper following his high tackle on Sam Thaiday during England’s 28-20 defeat by the Kangaroos in last Saturday’s opening match at the Millennium Stadium, and Inglis believes Burgess needs to clean up his act.

Since joining the Rabbitohs in 2010, Burgess has been charged six times by the NRL match-review committee and he served three suspensions this season, including one for an infamous ‘squirrel grip’ on Melbourne centre Will Chambers.

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“Sammy Burgess is a person who goes out and gives it his all,” said Inglis yesterday at the Kangaroos’ training session at Manchester’s Sport City.

“From the look of it, it was a pretty nasty hit. A swinging arm is a swinging arm and there’s no doubt about that.

“He’s just a person who wants to do everything right by the team. But it’s unfortunate that, the last few weeks, it’s come into his game a little bit. I’m pretty sure he’ll look back on it and put it out.

“You can put it down to emotions, you can put it down to a lot of things. I’ve played with Sammy for the last three years and he’s a player that you want to play with. But, in the end, he’s representing his country and I’m representing mine.”

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England decided not to appeal against the one-match ban, which rules Burgess out of Saturday’s sell-out Group A match against Ireland in Huddersfield.

Burgess says he will be using it as a positive, ensuring his body is refreshed for the rest of the campaign.

“I’ll be sat in the stands watching and that’s obviously disappointing,” Burgess said.

“I would rather be out there playing, but I’ll try to look at it positively and give my body a rest and get ready for Fiji the week after, leading into the finals.”

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Thaiday appeared to show no ill-effects from the head injury when he trained with the full Australia squad yesterday, but he will be rested for Saturday night’s game against Fiji in St Helens.

Coach Tim Sheens will ring the changes to give all 24 members of his touring squad a hit-out in the first two matches.

Forwards Josh Papalii and Boyd Cordner will make their debuts and Jarryd Hayne, Josh Morris, Daly Cherry-Evans, Nate Myles and Michael Jennings also come in as Sheens rests seven members of the side that came from 10-0 down to beat England.

However, there is no rest for captain Cameron Smith while Inglis switches from centre to his club position of full-back.

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The Fijians also made a winning start to the tournament, overcoming Ireland 32-14 in Rochdale on Monday.

While Burgess will be forced to sit and watch at Huddersfield on Saturday, Brett Ferres will hope to make his second appearance in England on his ‘home’ ground.

The Huddersfield second-row is relieved he did not go ahead with plans to book a family holiday in November.

He was forced to cancel one holiday earlier this year after he was called into England coach Steve McNamara’s squad for the mid-season clash with the Exiles.

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Ferres was tempted to take his wife and children away at the end of a long domestic season, but held off just in case he got the call for the World Cup, which duly came in time for him to make his England debut in last Saturday’s opening match against Australia.

He looks certain to keep his spot for Saturday’s game with Ireland at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“Luckily I didn’t book one this time,” he said. “I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time this time.”

He added: “When I looked at the fixtures originally, I sort of eyed this one up and thought ‘I wouldn’t mind getting in that’.

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“I probably didn’t see the Aussie one as a realistic goal at the start.

“I was chuffed to bits when I was chosen. I just tried to get in there and mix it with the big boys.

“It was about trying to showcase a little bit of what I can do and be solid in the process, not make any big blunders or anything like that and try to do best I could for the team. Hopefully, I’ve done enough to keep my spot.”

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