Sam Burgess named the second worst ever England player by fan poll

Among them, two players from crosscode backgrounds make the cut, but it's the undisputed No.1 that raises eyebrows.

The selection of these players begs the question of how and why they were ever called up to represent their country on the international stage. Whether due to poor performance, lack of skill, or disappointing displays, these players have left a mark for all the wrong reasons.

As the countdown begins, it becomes apparent that some of these players have been a letdown for various reasons, leaving fans and pundits scratching their heads in disbelief.

Despite the cause, these players have found their way onto this notorious list, cementing their status as the worst England players in recent memory.

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.

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 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.