Bath confirm Sam Burgess departure 'for personal reasons'

Bath have confirmed that Sam Burgess has left the club and returned to rugby league as, for personal reasons, he does not see a future for himself in rugby union.

South Sydney Rabbitohs announced on Thursday night that they had re-signed Burgess on a three-year contract.

The 26-year-old left the NRL side last year to join Bath on a three-year deal, but has now decided to call a halt to his rugby union career following England's disappointing World Cup campaign after which he came in for some heavy criticism.

Bath owner Bruce Craig and head coach Mike Ford denied earlier this week that Burgess' departure was imminent and insisted he would see out the remainder of his contract with the Aviva Premiership club.

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However, they have now allowed Burgess to return to the 13-man code after negotiations with the player.

A Bath statement read: "The club have remained committed to Burgess's ongoing development as a rugby union player since his move to the west country, but now recognise that, for personal reasons, he no longer sees his future in the 15-man game.

"Having settled on agreeable terms within the last 24 hours, Bath are therefore releasing Burgess with immediate effect."

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Ford said: "We hoped that Sam would stay at Bath. He was doing really well in making the switch over from league and, given time, he could've been a great rugby union player. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, he is returning to Australia.

"However, we're fortunate that we've got some very high calibre players here at the club, and with a big run of games coming up in the Aviva Premiership and the European Rugby Champions Cup, we'll be fully focused on these."

Burgess' twin brothers George and Tom play for the Rabbitohs and his older brother Luke plays for Manly Sea Eagles, while his mother Julie also lives in Sydney, the city where he is due to marry his fiancee Phoebe next month.

"I must thank Bath especially for granting my release to return home to my family, who I have missed more than I could have imagined," said Burgess, who won five England caps and made 26 appearances for Bath.

"I had a wonderful time in England and learnt a lot about the game of rugby union as both a back and a forward, and I have definitely developed as an all-round player and athlete after that."