Australian scrum-half Luke Burgess has brutally reviewed his first Test performance against France, concluding his erratic passing stifled Australia's attack.
The 24-year-old, who has just two Test caps to his name, may have been a little harsh on himself, as after all it was his quick thinking that saw him break through gaps on more than one occasion.
Such was his influence with ball in hand that one of his sniping breaks turned the game in Australia's favour - Nathan Sharpe scored shortly after the break to spark a purple patch that saw France put out of the game.
Many are tipping the Waratah half-back to be Australia's player to watch during the Tri-Nations, although at present all he is thinking about is improving on his efforts against France in the first Test.
"I don't think my contribution was enough, not from a personal perspective but I want to help the team as much as I can," Burgess told The Australian.
"It's never about an individual and making a contribution is at the forefront of everyone's mind.
"The biggest challenge I've found is settling into a new environment with these highly-skilled athletes.
"The biggest challenge is being cohesive and working well in our own individual units."
As far as Burgess and his half-back partner Matt Giteau are concerned the first Test was a rather mixed bag. There were times when the two looked like a seasoned partnership, and times when they looked like strangers.
Burgess claims he struggled due to his inability to keep up with Giteau's sudden late changes of play.
"It's not hard at all," Burgess said.
"He communicates very well but I've just been inaccurate with my passing. It stifled the attack a bit and that needs improving."
Giteau in turn came in for criticism for standing too deep and wide to receive Burgess' passes, although not knowing what kind of pass to expect forced him to do as much to gain some extra time on the ball.
Burgess maintained that his errant passing was not the product of an ingrained technical fault but rather of a temporary form slump.
"I'm just going through it at the moment," he said.
In order to fix the problem Burgess is increasing his efforts in training, added to that an offer from Nick Farr-Jones to help work with the young scrum-half. Despite the offer Robbie Deans has yet to ask Farr-Jones to come in and work with Burgess, although he may well do leading up to Australia's first Tri-Nations game.
George Gregan, the man Burgess took over from, was known for stepping back from the ruck before getting his pass away, but Burgess is not about to do the same.
"I like to just clear it off the deck," he said. "I find you can't take advantage of running opportunities if you drop back."





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