Newcastle Falcons 19 Bath 29, match report: Sam Burgess a winner in new forward role

Sam Burgess’s first experience of life in the back row lasted an hour last night as he played his part in a victory that lifted Bath into second place in the Aviva Premiership.

It was a solid, unspectacular first team debut as a blindside flanker that was never destined to give a definitive answer to the debate over whether the former rugby league star’s future lies there or in the centre, where he has made his previous 11 appearances.

But it was still a performance that pleased Bath’s head coach Mike Ford and only added to his belief that Burgess’s long-term future is likely to be as a…