Sam Burgess is on the move again, but this time he’s not going too far.

The former South Sydney back-rower on Thursday was named in the forwards – at blindside flanker – for his English rugby club Bath, having being used in the centres since his switch from the NRL.

Third-placed Bath face the Newcastle Falcons, second last on the ladder, on Friday in the English Premiership.

Bath and England fans will be hoping the positional shift brings the best out of Burgess, given the general consensus that the 26-year-old hasn’t made a huge impact in the midfield.

He played only 20 minutes off the bench last Saturday when Bath crashed out of the European Champions Cup to Leinster.

Time is running out for Burgess to impress England coach Stuart Lancaster before he announces his squad for the World Cup later this year.

There was much speculation since he announced his code switch last year as to what position the 2014 NRL premiership winner would be best suited to.

It even had a club-versus-country disagreement to it.

Just before Burgess’ arrival at Bath, Lancaster said he believed the damaging ball-runner would be best utilised at inside centre.

Bath coach Mike Ford, however, thought the back-row would be the best fit for Burgess.

“My gut feeling is that Sam is going to play in the back-row,” Ford said in October.

“I can afford to experiment a bit and see what the best position is. But the decision will be Bath rugby’s and Sam’s.”

Burgess will be joined in Bath’s back-row against Newcastle by former Queensland Reds forward Leroy Houston at No.8 and former South African international Francois Louw at openside flanker.