Exclusive – World Cup winner Lewis Moody ‘genuinely excited’ about Sam Burgess’ potential for England

England World Cup winner Lewis Moody has told talkSPORT he hopes cross-code star Sam Burgess can ‘live up to the hype’ and prove himself on the Rugby Union international stage.

Bath man Burgess is set to make his Red Rose debut against France at Twickenham on Saturday in the first of three World Cup warm-up Tests.

The 26-year-old has proven a success on the flank for Bath but he is only under consideration for Stuart Lancaster’s England squad in midfield, despite struggling to make an impact there for his club side.

But the head coach insists the powerful Yorkshireman deserves a chance to argue his case, and former flanker Moody believes hard-working Burgess has what it takes to succeed.

“I’m genuinely excited because Sam is a cracking bloke and absolute workhorse when it comes to training,” he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.

“That speaks volumes and that’s not always the thing that people see. You don’t see what the players are actually like, you just see their performance on a Saturday, you don’t actually know what they contribute to the squad and Sam definitely contributes - he’s a leader.

“But it’s very difficult for him, because he’s been playing all of his club rugby at back row and all of a sudden he’s being asked to play at international and change his position completely from the forwards to the backs and having a crack at centre.

“There’s no doubt that he’s an amazing player and I’m really excited to see him play, to see if he can live up to the hype, because he’s such a good bloke you want him to deliver.

“You know he can play the game, so I’m excited to see what he can do when he’s given a chance at international level.”