Sunday 6 March 2016 10:22, UK
Sam Burgess made a winning return to action in Australian rugby league as the South Sydney Rabbitohs claimed an emphatic 42-10 victory over the Sydney Roosters.
The 27-year-old Yorkshireman's last performance in the famous myrtle and red hoops of the National Rugby League side had been as man of the match in a Grand Final victory in 2014 that gave the Rabbitohs their first championship in 43 years.
Burgess then switched codes with Bath in the Aviva Premiership but called a halt to his brief rugby union career after he became a scapegoat for England's disappointing World Cup campaign last autumn.
He received a warm welcome from the large contingent of Souths fans in the crowd of 25,000 at the Sydney Football Stadium for the round-one local derby against the Roosters.
Burgess showed his strength with a typical surge towards the line early on and he was cheered back to his position behind the posts for the restart five times in the first 30 minutes as the Rabbitohs ran in five unanswered tries to race into a 26-0 lead as the Roosters were torn apart.
There were three more tries from the Rabbitohs after the break, although Burgess' efforts were largely restricted to the engine room.
"It's good to be back, I'm happy to get the win," said Burgess.
England winger Joe Burgess - no relation - was handed his debut by the Roosters after Daniel Tupou withdrew with an ankle injury and he at least had the consolation of scoring both their tries in the second half.
The Rabbitohs, co-owned by actor Russell Crowe, have gambled heavily on Sam Burgess' return, releasing stalwarts Dylan Walker and Chris McQueen to get his lucrative three-year deal in under the salary cap.
After finishing seventh last year and making a first-round exit in the play-offs, the expectations will be high that Burgess' return to join his twin brothers George and Tom at Redfern Oval can help the Rabbitohs reach the heights of 2014.
South Sydney may have paid a significant price for the victory, however, with possible long-term injuries to Adam Reynolds and John Sutton.
Scrum-half Reynolds suffered a jaw injury, while Sutton faces scans on a likely pectoral problem.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson played down the club's off-season dramas as a factor in the heavy defeat after suspended Mitchell Pearce's drunken 'lewd' act with a dog and Shaun Kenny-Dowall's court case on domestic violence charges, of which he was cleared by a court last week.
