LIST: 5 England internationals who flopped after major transfers

Despite being 33, there was excitement when the World Cup-winning hooker signed a three-year deal with Wasps in May 2011. However, in December that year, after making just one appearance, Thompson announced his immediate retirement from the game following a recurrence of a serious neck injury sustained in training. This required surgery to relieve symptoms of numbness and dizziness, but to carry on playing would carry serious risk to his health.

DID YOU KNOW? The England hooker was nominated for World Player of the Year in 2003, losing out to teammate Jonny Wilkinson

Trained with the Exiles for a few weeks before deciding it wasn’t for him and retired in the summer of 2015. The one-time Premiership record points-scorer then resurfaced at Newcastle in December where his experience and prolific boot saved them from relegation with London Irish going down. He even made it onto the Rugby Players’ Association Player of the Year shortlist.

The England centre arrived in Brive shortly after the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa but the form he’d shown in the series against the Boks was never seen in France. A shoulder injury and an inability to settle in Brive meant the threequarter made just five appearances before returning to Wasps the next year.

A star at Leicester, the England and Lions full-back joined Perpignan in November 2003 after kicking a record 1,2020 Premiership points for the Tigers. At USAP Stimpson kicked only his heels as injury and a loss of form resulted in his playing for their Under-23 side. A move to Leeds followed in 2004 – after a lengthy legal battle with Perpignan – and Stimpson was left to reflect on his choice: “I can now speak French…but beyond that it was a waste of time.

DID YOU KNOW? Stimpson won a record five consecutive Premiership titles with Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers

Bath’s signing of Sam Burgess from the NRL’s South Sydney Rabbitohs fresh from a Grand Final triumph in 2014 shook both codes in Australia and England as a superstar of the game was crossing codes. His fallout and return to league was equally as notorious.

DID YOU KNOW? His older brother, Luke, and younger twin brothers, Tom and George, are also professional rugby league footballers