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Sam Burgess reveals 'pretty tight' shave amid Las Vegas visa woes

Damien McCartney and Lachlan Harper

Updated . First published

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Warrington coach and South Sydney great Sam Burgess has revealed just how close he was to missing the Las Vegas festivities after battling visa issues.

Burgess wasn't able to fly with the rest of his team on Sunday due to visa issues stemming from three traffic offences from 2021.

After three nights in an airport hotel, Burgess arrived in Vegas on Wednesday night local time, and was at the helm of his first session with the team the following morning.

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Burgess said he was "pretty nervous" about the prospect of missing the historic Super League clash against Wigan, despite earlier expressing he had no doubts.

"I [was in a hotel] for three nights until we got it over the line. I just thought if I was there I'd have more impact and hopefully get things done. Anyway, it worked out," he said per The Sydney Morning Herald.

Sam Burgess speaks to media.  Nine

"I literally got my passport and visa four minutes before the cut-off to booking the flight to get here yesterday. Four minutes.

"It was pretty tight. Otherwise I would've been coming in later tonight and (was) going to miss all of [the pre-game festivities]."

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Although there were no convictions stemming from the traffic offences, he had to complete a traffic offenders program.

Warrington's clash with Wigan will be the first of four matches in the Las Vegas spectacle.

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Upon landing, Burgess told reporters it was "good to be here" after he had to travel to London to expedite his visa, but was always confident it would be resolved.

"I knew I'd get here in the end, it just took a couple days longer than expected," he said.

"I'm just happy to be here now, looking forward to the week, looking forward to some great games of rugby on Saturday."

The 36-year-old did admit there were nerves about being away from his team.

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"I've missed the guys, I felt a bit nervous that I wouldn't be here and they were in a new place, new environment," Burgess said.

"But they've by all accounts had a good time and been behaving themselves."

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