Sam Burgess Needs Swift Improvement in Order to Clinch Rugby World Cup Place

A wave of expectation inevitably followed rugby union convert Sam Burgess on his travels to Bath last summer, but the Rugby World Cup hopeful is desperately short on time to make the showpiece tournament this autumn.

With just three weeks of the regular season remaining, Burgess has five weeks including the play-offs at most to prove his candidacy for Stuart Lancaster's England squad and it could be a losing battle.

The former South Sydney Rabbitohs icon recently made a switch to blind-side flanker, having tried (and largely failed) to thrive at centre under Mike Ford.

Friday will see the bruising Burgess line up for his second Premiership outing in Bath's No. 6 jersey. He wrote in his Daily Mail column that he sees it as the right fit for him nearing the campaign's finish:

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On Friday night I’ll be wearing Bath’s No 6 shirt for the second time in a Premiership game. The switch from midfield has worked for myself and the team, so I’m hoping I can carry on playing in the back row for the rest of this season.

The change of position was a decision my head coach, Mike Ford, made after the Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster.

He phoned me a day after that game to discuss playing me in the back row to maximise my on-field minutes in our run home, to what I call ‘the big dance’: that’s the finals. He thought No 6 would suit the way we are trying to play as a team and also suit my personal strengths and I agreed.

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By rights, the 26-year-old's first foray in the back row was an impressive one as Burgess enjoyed one of his more active union displays in a 29-19 win over Newcastle Falcons last time out.

As rugby writer Alex Shaw pointed out, he was particular handful in stripping the enemy of possession:

However, it's difficult to see where, beyond sheer physicality, Burgess finds his greatest strengths. That statement seems almost contradictory when considering strength is indeed Burgess' biggest forte; he's useful in head-to-head collisions or when he has time to assess his surroundings, a luxury the World Cup won't offer in great amounts.

As expected, it's the finer nuances of union that are proving troublesome for the Yorkshire native, with the set piece and handling niggles just some of the areas that need drastic improvement.

On current form it would simply be unfair to choose Burgess ahead of certain other back-row hopefuls. For example, Tom Croft may be something of an injury liability, but the Leicester man is undoubtedly great at his very best.

And that's the motivation that surrounds any bid to see Burgess don the Red Rose. If he were to go to the World Cup, it would be due to the sheer hope that he could be good, not because he's earned the spot prior to now. The Aviva Premiership's official Twitter account points out the player's versatility, which can be both a blessing and a curse:

Against London Irish on Friday, we'll get another glimpse of Burgess the blind-side flanker, which will give us a better idea as to just how far along his progression is.

After all, without doing a disservice to the Falcons, any opposition they put up in Bath's previous outing will be a far-cry from what the likes of Australia and Wales will be throwing at England come September.

Who knows, a terrific flourish to end the 2014-15 Premiership campaign in his new position and Burgess may well earn an international recall, having been given just a taste of what it's like to be among the squad during the Six Nations.

Picking the player ahead of Carl Fearns is a telling statement in itself from Ford, with Rugby World's Charlie Morgan insisting we may have been unfair to scrutinise Burgess so early on:

Unfortunately, that kind of circus was always going to follow his transition from Australia's National Rugby League and, so far at least, it's an expedition that isn't likely to result in any World Cup involvement.

By no means is the race to impress Lancaster and his selectors over just yet, but Burgess has a lot of improvements to make and not a lot of time to make them in.