ENGLAND lock Dave Attwood believes Bath teammate Sam Burgess can make a major impact for both club and country after his high-profile switch from rugby league.

Burgess has so far been involved in seven first-team games for Bath - either starting or featuring off the bench - and he is on course to feature for England Saxons when they tackle the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork on January 30.

He produced the best performance of his fledgling union career when Aviva Premiership title contenders Bath saw off Wasps 39-26 on Saturday, scoring his first senior try for the club, making some strong contributions in attack and defence, and being named man of the match.

And Bath teammate Attwood believes the 26-year-old will go from strength to strength as he gets to grips with his code switch.

"I think if they are looking at him in that respect, he is the kind of player who will benefit from that (England) environment," he said.

"I would love to see him get involved, but I think let's walk before we can run. A few more man-of-the matches would be great.

"We don't want to just get him involved and playing well, and then lose him to England, so the longer we can keep him here for now, the better.

"He is a massive specimen, really physical, and he's got a really varied skill-set. He adds a very different dimension to what we can do in the midfield.

"It's great to have him playing. Every game, he is growing in stature and bringing more and more of his kind of game to the party, which is ultimately what we want.

"We want more of Sam Burgess out there, and the sooner he learns the game, he is going to be flying along and carrying us forward."

England head coach Stuart Lancaster is due to name his senior squad and Saxons group next week and, as well as Burgess' likely involvement, there are growing calls for veteran number eight Nick Easter to be handed a recall.