'I read social media posts saying stuff like I should never wear a rugby shirt again - it's all bollocks'
Freddie Burns is buzzing. New season, renewed targets, old friends. Ten months ago, Champions Cup opening weekend was woundingly traumatic, the effervescent entertainer having the life sucked out of him by his infamous gaffe of losing the ball over the Toulouse try line while celebrating that he was about to score.
Now comes confirmation that European opening weekend next term will be a rumbustious Burns family affair at the Rec, a chance to go head-to-head against younger brother Billy. Four years separate the siblings in age, Freddie turning 29 last May compared to Billy blowing out his 25th birthday candles a month later.
Each will be at their devilish best to try and gain an upper hand on November 16. However, away from that 80 minutes when they will play against each other like sworn enemies, the admiration Freddie has for Billy is infectious.
Kid brother didn’t have to follow Freddie’s grass-is-greener-outside-Kingsholm philosophy, a 2014 tactic that took him to Leicester for three seasons before hooking up with Bath in 2017. However, Billy’s gut instinct told him to do likewise and a maiden season in Belfast has just seen him coming into his own as a more consistently accomplished out-half.
“I really proud of him,” said Freddie to RugbyPass about a relationship where they have gone from living in each other’s pockets to living in different countries. “I always said there is tipping points in players’ careers: to ask to leave Gloucester with a year left in his contract, almost foreseeing what happened with (Danny) Cipriani coming into the squad and then starting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs1JTB1FOlE/
“He has gone over there (to Ireland) when right now he could be second choice to Cipriani and rightly so by the way Cirpiani played last year, but he could be a very unhappy rugby player now.
“He saw an opportunity and Ulster offered him that opportunity and he has taken it. He has really blossomed over there into a great, experienced player. They are a great team to be with and I’m really looking forward to playing them this year.
“The best thing about him being over there is the fact that I can fully support him. When he was at Gloucester you wanted him to do well but you wanted Gloucester to lose, so now he is over there and I can support him.
📅 | @BathRugby will start their 2019/20 Heineken @ChampionsCup campaign at home against @UlsterRugby on Saturday 16th November.
— Bath Rugby (@BathRugby) August 23, 2019
“We have drawn each other in Europe and that will be a couple of days on the drink for the Burns family. A great occasion for us to play against each other in the best competition in the world.”
There was a time last autumn, though, when the Champions Cup was more like the worst event in the world for Burns. His incredible error against Toulouse was oxygen for the multiple keyboard warriors who love nothing more than ridiculing people when they are down.
Resilience eventually got him through the ordeal and he has no qualms now relieving the arduous tale, patting himself on the back for being able to have the character to stubbornly bounce back from quite a scarring escapade.
Five minutes to go…
Chance to win the game…"Oh he's dropped it!"
A brutal moment for Bath star Freddie Burns 😣 pic.twitter.com/K7S578Rdwx
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 13, 2018
“You can go as deep as you want about it. In life, in rugby, things aren’t always going to go the way you want them to and you’re going to be dealt some pretty s*** hands.
“That (error) was probably my own doing but you make a decision, you either be a victim or be a survivor and I decided to be strong, to just crack on and bounce back and I feel like I have done that well.
“Obviously there is added incentive this year now being back in that competition to right the wrongs, but I have played over 200 top-flight games so I’m not one going to let the split second of a poor decision and a mistake affect me.
“Does it hang over me a little bit? Of course it does. It was a massive mistake on my part but like I say, you make a decision to front up and get on with it or sort of fade away. I’m happy with how I responded,” he said, going on to acknowledge how mental health has fast become a hot topic in rugby.
“Obviously, the Kearnan Myall article has come out recently and stuff like that. There is massive mental strain on professional athletes in whatever sport, mostly rugby. It tends to take a lot of mental strength for people to take the pitch and bounce back.
“I guess I said it when I was on Rugby Tonight on BT, I said if the story of me dropping the ball or if the story to come out of it is resilience and mental strength, then I’m all for it. You have just got to stand strong, hopefully show younger kids that it isn’t always going to go your way but it isn’t the end of the world.
"You could see that it hurt him…"
"This is probably the time we need to rally around him."
Todd Blackadder offers support for Freddie Burns after his mistake against Toulouse. pic.twitter.com/ZjBGxNTj8C
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 13, 2018
“I read social media posts saying stuff like I should never wear a rugby shirt again and all this stuff – it’s all bollocks. You are always in control and I have just chosen to take that route,” he continued, moving on to grasp the nettle that is a seemingly unaccountable social media.
“I have always said if you’re on social media you take the good with the bad. I’m quite active on social media. It’s an aspect of society that I enjoy, but you are going to take your fair amount of flak, especially when you make a mistake like that (against Toulouse).
“People should be made more accountable on social media. I know there has been a lot this week with (Marcus) Rashford and (Paul) Pogba, stuff with the (Manchester United) penalty miss and all that kind of thing. I hear there is stuff that these companies can do to make people more accountable, but if you’re going to be on social media you take the good with the bad and you just roll with the punches.”
In hindsight, he suggests his failure to ground the ball for that European try was symptomatic of how his club agonisingly fell short of what they hoped to achieve last season, their Premiership campaign ending with them finishing sixth on points difference after they wound up level on points with Northampton in fourth and Harlequins in fifth.
“First and foremost I don’t think that we’re a million miles away. Last year we ended up sneaking into that Champions Cup place but ended up joint-points for fourth. I see our biggest improvement just being a bit more ruthless and taking more of the opportunities.
“I feel a lot of people will look at our games last year and say that we lost those games in the last 10 minutes, but I see them as the fact that we didn’t take opportunities in the first 70 to seal the game up. We have got to bring in a ruthless edge.
“This squad is on a journey. With Stuart (Hooper) now at the helm it is going to be a continuation, it’s not completely fresh start so it is a journey we’re all excited to be on. When you look around the squad, and I know every Premiership squad will be saying this, but the players that we have got here, the young lads who will step up while the World Cup players are away, are more than capable, so it’s a real exciting time to be a Bath player.
“It is going to be unbelievably competitive, even more so this year with the start being when the World Cup is on. You’re going to see squad depth, strength and the power of peoples’ pathway systems and how they put people thorough the academy system and promote.
“It’s going to be another competitive year and I feel like the teams that make the most of these first four lot five weeks will be the ones who will go on and succeed in the season.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jKdopl4R7/?igshid=pcckc97qzcy3
“Bath is a club that deserves to be up there… well actually I will take that back, no one deserves to be anywhere but the supporters should definitely be supporting a club that is up there competing for honours every year and we have probably let them down over the last couple of years.
“It’s time we paid back the faith that they and the city have shown us and really get ourselves up into that top four and compete in Europe as well.”
It's almost time…
2⃣8⃣.0⃣8⃣.1⃣9⃣ #ItsInOurFabric pic.twitter.com/EWL670qmsa
— Bath Rugby (@BathRugby) August 23, 2019
He hopes the extended pre-season will be their springboard to better things. “We’re training hard, training has been enjoyable. There has been a few changes around the club, which so far have gone really well, but also as a player it’s a s*** time of year where you have got to train so much without a game.
“We’re getting itchy feet now. Looking forward to the start of the season, but we have still got an opportunity to use this extended pre-season to make big strides and make sure that we hit the ground running coming the start of the Premiership.”
WATCH: In the first episode of the RugbyPass Rugby Pads series, Jim Hamilton visits Freddie Burns to have a look around and take a dip in his hot tub
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments