As one of the biggest stars in rugby league from recent years, the spotlight has been shining brightly on Sam Burgess ever since he decided to switch codes to union last year.
The glare has never been quite as bright as it was this week, however, with the Bath man being given his first competitive Test start for England in their Rugby World Cup showdown with Wales on Saturday evening.
Burgess was winning just his fourth cap for his country up against the vastly experienced Jamie Roberts, and he ended up on the losing side as Wales launched a late comeback to win 28-25.
With England's quarter-final hopes hanging by a thread as a result, Burgess spoke to Sports Mole about his performance, where the match was won and lost, and how he found it taking on Roberts.
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What are your thoughts on that defeat?
"It's disappointing for the team, but we're going to have to move on from it."
What areas need to be improved ahead of next Saturday's must-win clash with Australia?
"Probably the biggest thing from tonight was discipline. If we get better at recognising how it's being refereed earlier on in the game then we can react to that."
England were on top for the majority of that game but never really got clear of Wales on the scoreboard - what do you put that down to?
"Just little things. Discipline. We kept letting them back into the game and fair play to them, they took their chances when they got them. They were good in the breakdown, we can get better in there, but we'll just keep working now and get on with it."
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How would you rate your own performance? There was a lot made of your inclusion in the starting XV...
"I felt OK. I felt comfortable. I've got a few things to work on and I'll keep improving."
What was it like coming up against Jamie Roberts in midfield?
"It was good. He's a great player, very physical, plays the game direct, so it was good. We didn't have too much clean ball tonight so we didn't get too many opportunities set piece wise, but in terms of phase play it was good.
"I thought he played well. I was sad to see Scott [Williams] injured, but like I say we've got to move on from it now and get better as a group."
Obviously the result didn't go the way you'd have hoped for, but as an occasion where does this rank in your career?
"It was a huge occasion, but it was just another game of rugby at the end of the day. That's the way I look at it. There's another one next week, so I'm looking forward to that."
England face Australia at Twickenham on Saturday before finishing off the group against Uruguay.
Barney Corkhill
