Sam
Burgess

Sam Burgess is a former dual-code international rugby player and current rugby league coach. Find out more about him with RugbyPass.

Sam Burgess Bio

Sam Burgess is perhaps best known as one of the few English rugby players to both switch codes between rugby league and rugby union and to become a dual-code international. Burgess started his career within rugby league, before switching to union in late 2014 to play as a centre and at times a full-back.

Born into a rugby league-playing family in Kirklees, West Yorkshire in December 1988, Sam Burgess followed in the footsteps of his father and older brother and started his sporting career within league in 2006 with Bradford Bulls. He later moved to Australia in 2010 and played for South Sydney Rabbitohs before making the switch to union in 2014.

Burgess first signed for Bath on a three-year deal, but his first season in Premiership Rugby didn’t start until the December of that year due to an injured cheekbone and eye socket.

Following his recovery, Burgess was a key part of what turned out to be a very successful season, with Bath eventually finishing runners up in the Aviva Premiership. By August 2015 he was named in then England coach, Stuart Lancaster’s, squad for the Rugby World Cup. He played five games for the national side, who eventually exited the competition in the pool stage.

Burgess made the switch back to league in November 2015, heading back to South Sydney Rabbitohs where he played for almost four more years before his eventual retirement from rugby due to injury in October 2019. As of March 2021, Sam Burgess is working as a coach for the club.