Burgess opens up on union exit

Burgess is returning to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL after his stint with Bath and England in union.

In a column for the Daily Mail, the 26-year-old opened up on why he quit union, revealing he felt like people wanted him to fail from the outset.

"Some ex-players just kept letting rip. It was a losing battle from day one. I couldn't believe it," Burgess wrote.

"It's almost like they don"t want anyone else to do well in the jersey. That's definitely the feeling I got in rugby union.

"And since the tournament [Rugby World Cup], there have been players coming out in the press, leaking stories.

"I find that really disappointing and I didn't want to stay in a sport like that. It makes it harder to build on when people from the inside are crumbling."

Burgess denied claims he had taken the easy option, saying it would have been simpler for him to stay at Bath.

The 2014 Clive Churchill Medallist said his return to Sydney had come sooner than expected, having targeted Christmas.

Burgess said he had wanted to farewell his Bath team-mates, only for his request to be turned down, while he defended the Rugby Football Union (RFU).

"I wanted to go in and see the team, to get my point across, but Stuart Hooper, our captain, said he didn't think I'd be well received there, which was fair enough if that"s how he felt," he wrote.

"I wanted to go and say goodbye, not just as a team-mate but as a friend, but that didn't happen. I've not been back in there, but I've spoken to guys away from the club.

"The RFU have come in for a lot of stick for my decision, which I think is unfair. They didn"t make it for me. They didn"t push me into it. In fact, they have been supportive through it all.

"I disagree with this idea that I have been let down or treated badly. The RFU have not treated me badly."