England’s Sam Burgess calls ex-coach ‘a snake’ over 2015 Rugby World Cup chaos

"I came back from the World Cup and I literally went in his office and said, 'Hey Mike, I don't trust you. I think you're playing games behind my back,'" Burgess told the House of Rugby podcast.

"'You used me as a bit of a pawn in your game of chess. I can't put my boots on and play for you every week.'"

Burgess said Ford used his son - England flyhalf George - to "infiltrate" the team camp. He also said the elder Ford had stirred up stories in the media to unsettle him.

"Mike Ford wanted the England coaching job, so his job was to try and sabotage Lancaster, and his decision-making and his coaching methods."

He added: "I'll never forget Mike's face when I said to him, 'Mike I don't respect you any more, I really don't. I think you're a bit of a snake.'

"And I'll never forget the little quiver that I got from him."

Among these five, two players with rugby league backgrounds managed to secure spots.

The inclusion of these athletes raises the inquiry of how and why they were ever given the opportunity to represent their country on the global stage. Be it their subpar performances, lack of skill, or consistently disappointing outings, these individuals have indelibly left their mark on the wrong side of the spectrum.

World-class on his day, but I don’t think any England fan will argue that the mercurial fly-half winning just 16 caps during his career can only be considered a complete disaster.

He was never able to replicate his club form on the international stage. So disappointing.

Much was made of the fact that Shaun Perry was an ex-welder when he burst into the limelight during an impressive season with Bristol, and it did make a charming rags-to-riches story.  But, let’s be honest, he never really looked accomplished in the England shirt. 

A poor performance against South Africa in the 2007 Rugby World Cup led to Perry being dropped from the 22 by England coach Brian Ashton. He never played again.

Gloucester stalwart Hazell had the unenviable task of filling the retired Neil Back’s shoes.  We can assume that Robinson’s thought process was, “He’s small, he’s aggressive, he’s just like Neil Back”, but unfortunately it didn’t really work out like that. 

Making his international appearances exclusively through 2004-05, Hazell became known as a bit of a penalty machine.

The Volcano’ stormed onto the scene for Gloucester, doing something ridiculous like scoring five tries on his debut against Leeds, before qualifying for England on residency grounds.

International honours followed, with Vainikolo making his England debut against Wales in 2008. However, he failed to bring his try-scoring form to the international scene and was quickly dropped from Martin Johnston’s squad after winning five caps.

England, who fast-tracked Burgess into their World Cup squad in defiance of logic, Bath and the player himself each shoulder varying degrees of blame for arguably the greatest cross-code flop in history. We’re not saying he was an awful player, but the whole thing was a complete disaster.

The brains behind the Six Nations masterplans, these head coaches have all won 'Rugby's Greatest Championship', since the modernised competition began back in 2000. Throughout the history of the competition, there have been only five head coaches to win the competition on more than one occasion.

However, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is looking to become the sixth, as he orchestrates the men from the Emerald Isle into defending their Six Nations Grand Slam. In total, the Six Nations has been won by 13 different head coaches, and we challenge you to name them all in the next six minutes!

Your time starts... now! Good luck!