England World Cup player ‘extremely lucky’ after suffering scary blow to neck

A fortunate escape.

Ex-England international Sam Burgess has tweeted out his relief at appearing to have dodged serious injury following a horrific clash during a rugby league game in Australia. The former union convert, who was fast-tracked into the England squad last year but failed to shine at the World Cup, was in just his third game back in rugby league for South Sydney Rabbitohs against St George Illawarra when he suffered the injury, which required lengthy treatment on the field before he was carried off on a stretcher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVOmwbO-oa0 Team owner Russell Crowe and Burgess's mother were both obviously shaken in the crowd as the NRL clash was halted, but following his admission to hospital, Burgess later took to Twitter to reassure fans that may have feared for his health. https://twitter.com/SamBurgess8/status/711540154297483265