Mike Ford believes Sam Burgess โdidn't have the stomachโ to fight for his future at Bath.
Cross-code convert Burgess has left Bath after just a year in rugby union, returning to former club South Sydney Rabbitohs. The 26-year-old admitted his โheart just isn't in itโ on jetting back to Australia, leaving head coach Ford to reveal frustrations at failing to convince Burgess to stay on at Bath.
Ford insisted he laid bare just how much he felt Bath's coaches and players had invested in Burgess, only for the ex-Bradford Bulls player to continue to chase a return to Sydney.
โAll I know is that he didn't have the stomach to see out his contract,โ said Ford.
โFor me this was the time to roll his sleeves up and become the player that I thought he could be โ and he chose not to.
โYou don't know what he was thinking, it wasn't until the final talk I had with him that I felt there was nothing more I could do.
โBut I did speak to him about that and about what a fantastic player he could be, and about the investment the club and the players had made in him, and that it was time to repay that.
โBut he chose differently.โ
Burgess wrote in his Daily Mail column that he was โdisappointedโ to leave the Recreation Ground, but felt he was fighting a โlosing battleโ in union.
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