The head coach of Aviva Premiership side Bath Rugby has claimed that Sam Burgess "did not have the stomach" to fight for his place in the team.

The player has returned to Rugby League with South Sydney Rabbitohs, having switched to union last year and then enduring a disappointing Rugby World Cup as England crashed out of the pool stage on home soil.

"All I know is that he didn't have the stomach to see out his contract," said Bath coach Mike Ford.

"For me this was the time to roll his sleeves up and become the player that I thought he could be - and he chose not to. You don't know what he was thinking, it wasn't until the final talk I had with him that I felt there was nothing more I could do. But I did speak to him about that and about what a fantastic player he could be, and about the investment the club and the players had made in him, and that it was time to repay that. But he chose differently."