Confirmed: Freddie Burns waves goodbye to Bath and English rugby and joins Shokki Shuttles
Bath out-half Freddie Burns has ended speculation on his future, revealing that he has signed for Shokki Shuttles in Japan. The ex-Beechen Cliff school pupil represented his country at both U20 and England Saxons level before making his senior England debut in 2012 against the All Blacks and taking part in the subsequent tours of Argentina and New Zealand.
It was no secret that ex-England No10 felt frustrated during his time at Bath, revealing to The Rugby Pod that he felt his value had fallen while at the club. “I have been the first to admit I have been extremely frustrated with the lack of game time,” he said earlier this year.
“I have felt this year I have been devalued as a player quite a lot in terms of not even getting an opportunity when the team was losing or playing badly. With regards to next year, I have got something in the pipeline that is almost done and dusted. But as soon as this kicked off [the coronavirus lockdown] it suddenly put that into a bit of difficulty.
“Bath still haven’t spoken to me about whether they want to keep me or let me go. I guess from the lack of game time and the lack of communication the writing is on the wall for me. I have looked elsewhere, I have got something lined up. It’s still not signed but it is tough to have communication during these times because you are not seeing directors of rugby or coaches on a day-to-day basis.”
Burns came through the Bath academy before embarking on a career that took him to Gloucester and Leicester before he agreed to what he hoped would be a dream return to his native city club. “To put it bluntly, what should have been the dream move is turning into, not a complete nightmare, but something which is very far from what I was expecting it to be. Some of that I will take full credit for; I got sent off on my debut, I don’t put the ball down against Toulouse – that was completely self-inflicted.
Feel immense pride to have played with, for and against the best players, clubs and supporters around. It’s been one hell of a journey. English rugby, for now, it’s been a pleasure. Next stop @shokki https://t.co/YXFB4N6CWX
— Freddie Burns (@FreddieBurns) May 1, 2020
“But there are other aspects which have been that have left me pretty disappointed and very frustrated with my time at Bath. The boys have been great, coaches in part have been alright, but this year I feel not even hung out to dry, just forgotten about.
“I feel like an academy player again that I am having to earn respect from coaches and not even being given an opportunity to showcase what I can do, regardless of the fact I have been training well and when I have played, out of position, I have gone alright.”
There had been speculation earlier this year that Burns could join Wasps, speculation that then extended to a possible switch to France. However, he has now decided his future is best served by going further afield and joining the Shuttles, a second-tier team in Japan.
Burns has high hopes that 2019/20 would have been a successful season at Bath, telling RugbyPass last August: “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 really exciting time to be a Bath player.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments