South Sydney still have too many Burgess boys for St Helens
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Sam Burgess may be busy breaking through the England Rugby Union ranks ahead of this autumn’s World Cup, but younger brothers George and Tom will be looking to make a similar splash back on home soil when their South Sydney Rabbitohs side take on St Helens in the World Club Challenge.
All four Burgess boys were named in Souths’ squad for the NRL Grand Final back in October, when the Russell Crowe-owned outfit took the title for the first time since 1971 (eldest brother Luke has since moved to Manly Sea Eagles).
Sam snared the man-of-the-match medal, after playing a full 80 minutes despite breaking his cheekbone early on, but the youngest of the 22-year-old twins scored the game-changing try with his side locked at 6-6 with Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
After the 30-6 victory was secure, Brisbane’s Courier Mail were moved to wax all kinds of lyrical about ‘Baby George’:
“He was the Burgess that broke the Bulldogs’ backs. He broke the game open with one brilliant run.
In what will go down as one of the most stunning grand final performances by a front rower, George Burgess became the hero of South Sydney last night with a herculean effort in the grand final and an epic solo try.”
The task that awaits St Helens looks stark, as five of the last six World Club Challenges have been won by the visiting Australian team, after a run of six wins in seven years for the Super League between 2001-2008.
Keiron Cunningham’s side hardly helped their cause by unconvincingly seeing off Catalans Dragons 18-7 in their first home match of the campaign, having been 7-6 down at half time.
Aside from Sydney Roosters’ 36-14 downing of Wigan Warriors last year, the past four NRL victories in this fixture have come by eight points or less, so South Sydney between 1-10 at 7/4 looks a decent bet.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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