Lancaster opts for Farrell and Burgess

Warren Gatland says Wales will not single out Sam Burgess for special attention in Saturday’s crunch World Cup clash against England.

Former England worldwide Austin Healey has hit out at Stuart Lancaster’s selection ahead of his team’s Pool A game against Wales.

“The start of the game is pretty important as well; how you get off and how you make the other team feel”, Farrell told reporters at England’s training base in Bagshot, southwest of London, on Tuesday. “I did have a vision of doing it. This is what I wanted to achieve to be part of this squad”.

“I believe in myself”.

“We look back at those games over the last few years, but it’s on the night”.

League convert Burgess, 26, has played only 112 minutes of global rugby union and will line up opposite Jamie Roberts, who has 70 Wales caps.

The Farrell-Burgess-Barritt combination – the most muscular trio available to Lancaster – has been chosen in anticipation of the looming gainline war with Wales.

“We won’t be trying to single out Sam Burgess at all“, said Gatland.

“Sam Burgess is a world-class player”, he said. “We are comfortable and will be ready”.

Wales, in contrast, will send a tried and tested centre partnership of Williams and Jamie Roberts into battle, with Saturday’s winners taking a giant stride towards the quarter-finals. Ford was dropped, while Joseph hurt a pectoral muscle and may not play another Pool A game.

“Everyone has been looking forward to this for years now”.

Ford has started 10 out of England’s last 11 matches, only occupying the bench for the first game of the warm-up series, and is a more creative and rounded player than the rugged Farrell.

Up front, Billy Vunipola comes in at No.8 in place of Ben Morgan who is still struggling with a knee complaint.

“He [Burgess] is a big, physical player so I’m sure he will be carrying the ball hard”.

As for Burgess, Lancaster added: “He’s more than capable of playing at this level”.

With Joseph ruled out, possibly for the entire group stage, with a chest injury, Lancaster had the option of a like-for-like replacement in Henry Slade but opted instead for the power and big-match experience – albeit in rugby league – of Burgess.

He said: “My confidence has grown on the back of what he’s done, the way he’s come on and contributed off the bench. We brought some players in for a little bit of defence work, so I don’t know what we’ve done wrong”.

“We were expecting they would probably go with the same 10, 12 and 13 so that threw us for a couple of days even though the team wasn’t announced until today, so there were obviously leaks there”, he said.