Matt Dawson: 'Owen Farrell's positioning could punish Sam Burgess'

Matt Dawson has claimed that Sam Burgess could be punished by Stuart Lancaster's decision to start with Owen Farrell at fly-half in England's World Cup clash with Wales.

George Ford's omission from the starting lineup after he started last Friday's 35-11 win over Fiji has attracted criticism, while Burgess has also been drafted into the team as a replacement for the injured Jonathan Joseph.

World Cup winner Dawson is certain that Wales will be happy with the changes, and he believes that Burgess could pay the price for Farrell's deeper position as a number 10.

"Farrell generally plays four or five metres deeper than Ford," the former England scrum-half wrote in his column for The Mirror. "If he's distributing to Burgess behind the gain line, [Jamie] Roberts and [Scott] Williams are likely to smash him.

"Listen, it's a far from terrible midfield. It has the power to intimidate.

"My question is: Do those boys have the nous to create opportunities rather than just bludgeon their way through?"

Burgess has played just 112 minutes of Test rugby.