Burgess topped his team's stats for tackles and metres gained on his debut

England's Sam Burgess admitted he had received a large dose of reality after his South Sydney Rabbitohs side were hammered 36-10 on his NRL debut.

The highly-rated 21-year-old made some useful contributions against the Sydney Roosters, but found his side on the wrong end of a big score.

"NRL's a tough game and I found that out tonight," said Burgess.

"We've got a lot to work on, we'll go back to the drawing board and I think we all know that."

Burgess, one of the most highly rated young talents in the game, signed a four-year deal with the Rabbitohs after leaving Bradford.

The Rabbitohs pack - which includes the likes of Roy Asotasi, Isaac Luke and Dave Taylor - had been rated as one of the strongest in the league, but received a rude awakening at the ANZ Stadium.

"I probably think it's the best time we could have got it, round one," said Burgess, who topped his team's statistics for tackles made and metres gained.

"There's been a lot of talk and hype in the media over our team and our forward pack and I'm not a big believer in what's been said.

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"I've got faith in our team, but I'd rather let our play dictate what's said in the paper."

Rabbitohs coach John Lang said Burgess and fellow debutant Taylor had shown great promise, but emphasised the need for improvement.

"We've signed some new players, but Dave Taylor and Sam Burgess aren't going to be the magic elixir for our team," said Lang.

"The showed flashes of what they can do, but they also had a couple of errors in their game. Their efforts were symptomatic of the side today."

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