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Farrell: 'Burgess deserves England call-up'

Thursday, May 21 2015 by SNTV
  • Intro:

    England coach Andy Farrell supports Sam Burgess' inclusion in England's 50-man World Cup training squad. Head coach Stuart Lancaster explains why he continues to overlook foreign-based players, such as Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon, and discusses omitting Manu Tuilagi, who had pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage.

    Script:

    SOUNDBITE: (English) Andy Farrell, England coach (on rugby league convert Sam Burgess):

    "It's a pretty unique situation that he's found himself in, coming over to a different sport and playing two, two positions so, so early within his career, and we think he's, he's developed very well over the course of, over the last few months, especially his game involvements has been right up there with anyone in the squad - and I think what's going to be great for us to see is to see how far that Sam has developed. We had him in for a week's training during the Six Nations, and obviously it's been a lot of performances since then, man-of-the-match performances and we're interested to see how much he's developed."

    SOUNDBITE: (English) Stuart Lancaster, England head coach (asked whether the decision not to select overseas players benefits England or the clubs in the English Premiership):

    "I think it's a good decision for England, without doubt, because... I mean it's not been, it's not been held ajar (the opportunity for overseas players to force their way into the World Cup squad) in my opinion. I've been consistent since I've started, on the policy... we've not wavered on it, we've not changed our position on it, and as a consequence we've built a huge amount of commitment through a group of players who've, let's be fair, we've not won every game, but we've made good progress in the last three years collectively. I think that, that's an important factor."

    SOUNDBITE: (English) Stuart Lancaster, England head coach (on the decision to not select Manu Tuilagi after he admitted assaulting two female police officers):

    "There's no word to describe it other than disappointing from... in every way, shape or form. Obviously disappointed with... on hearing about the incident, the incident itself. Obviously very difficult decision to make. I felt the right decision, in light of what had happened. Disappointed for Manu personally, disappointed for the coaches and for the team and for the country because he's a high-quality player."

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