England and South Sydney Rabbitohs legend Sam Burgess hosted the UKAFRL team today as the team took a training session, before the military side kicked off their must win Armed Forces World Cup clash against New Zealand and the stars words of wisdom must have inspired the team, as they won 40-30.
The squad watched head coach Michael Maguire put his team through their paces at the Redfern Oval training ground, before Burgess invited them in to the changing rooms to meet the players, before introducing his colleagues to UKAFRL team captain and YouTube sensation LAET Ben Taylor, known as Yorkshire Prose.
Taylor recited a short poem specially composed for the team, before head coach Flt Lt Damian Clayton presented Maguire with a team shirt and thanked the club for enabling the visit.
[[MULTI_IMAGE1]][[MULTI_IMAGE2]]
Burgess, who plays the club owned by actor Russell Crowe, with two of his brothers, Tom and George, said: "It's great to have the lads here and we have a good English contingent here in the playing squad, which allows a fair bit of Aussie banter, but it's nice to have the lads about to hear the familiar accents.
"Throughout my whole career I have always had a great link with the military, we visit Holdsworthy Barracks, where the UKAFRL guys are staying for the tournament, a lot, so I very familiar with it.
"It has to be said there are similarities with our sport and the Services, things are a lot more on the line with the Forces though, for us its only a game of rugby, but aspects such as mate ship and bonding are all part of both of our lives and careers and we draw a lot from the Forces."
And on the team's remaining World Cup campaign, Burgess added: "The main thing is when they put the jersey they are repenting a lot more than just themselves, so the nest approach is just to go out there do their best, have fun, and I am sure they will give it their all.
"They may not have had the wins early on, but we know they are doing the country proud and themselves and that is all that matters."
Before the shirt presentation, the Rabbitohs players posed for photos with the UKAFRL team and signed autographs.
The team play New Zealand in the third and fourth place play off on July 14.
