Steve McNamara praised the return to form of youngster Sam Burgess after an eye-catching performance against Harlequins.

The prop came off the bench and delivered his best display of the season on Sunday, creating two tries and proving an equally big hit in defence.

Burgess, 18, hadn't kicked on as much as he would have liked after an impressive debut campaign last year signalled him out as one of the game's brightest young talents.

But the former England Academy star - who suffered the tragic loss of his father earlier this month - showed in the win over the Londoners that he can be a Super League force.

McNamara said: "Sam's obviously been through a difficult period himself and is now coming through the other side.

"He's been disappointed by his own performances by his own admission but he turned it on on Sunday and came up with a couple of super plays for us. He was a lot better than he has been."

McNamara referred to Burgess when asked about the imminent impact of losing Gloucester-bound Lesley Vainikolo.

"We've had big players leave in the past, with Stuart Fielden obviously being one, and we found young Sam Burgess to take his spot," he said.

"Hopefully we've found a replacement for Les with Tame (Tupou) coming across but only time will tell."

New Zealand test winger Tupou's long-awaited arrival is expected to happen later this week but with the Bulls due to fly out to Perpignan on Thursday, McNamara doesn't expect him to play against Catalans Dragons.

"Possibly but probably not," was his verdict.

"It would be a big ask for him. We'll get him across and assess him once we get there but probably not at this stage, particularly now when we've come through the game with no other clear injuries."

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