Former England fly-half Freddie Burns has delivered a warning to rugby players, reminding how expendable those assets can be regardless of how comfortable they may feel.
A professional veteran of almost 13 years, Burns—who made his Premiership debut with Gloucester in 2009—is more acquainted than most when it comes to the fragile nature of a career as an athlete. The 31-year-old has played for three English clubs ( Leicester Tigers, Gloucester and Bath ) and enjoyed a short spell in Japan with Toyota Industries Shuttles.
Tigers chief Steve Borthwick brought the former five-cap international back to Welford Road last year, but his first spell with Leicester ended abruptly in 2017. Burns told the story of how he was faced with the news over a Nandos at a time in his career when he was perhaps more naïve as to how quickly things can change.
“The main thing I have learned in my career is it’s never personal,” he said on the latest episode of the RugbyPass Offload podcast. “At Leicester last time I got sacked over lemon and herb chicken and spicy rice.
"I still had a year and a half on my contract and Simon Cohen, who was CEO of Leicester at the time, said, ‘Can I meet you for a Nandos?’ I said, ‘Nandos on the CEO? I don’t mind if I do’. Spicy rice, lemon and herb chicken, had one mouthful. He went, ‘Fred, we want to get rid of you.’ ‘What? I think I need to go and get a refill.’ There was me standing by the fizzy drinks machine wailing: ‘I’m getting sacked.'
“At the time it hurts but you look back and this is a business now. When a player leaves fans talk about where is the loyalty and all this stuff but that is gone from the game and one thing that has to change in rugby is you get a lot of people in the game preaching about family clubs and loyalty and respect and all this – but at the end of the day it is business."
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The fan favourite clearly holds no grudges against the club, which is evident in his play since helping Leicester climb back to the Premiership summit. He's started in 10 of his 16 league appearances this season and played a particularly important role in steadying the ship while George Ford has been away on England duty.
Burns went on to describe the industry as "dog-eat-dog" and assured he now encourages his agent to seek out potential opportunities way ahead of time, even when things are running smoothly.
“In an ideal world, you’d like to think a coach would tell you in October, November: ‘Listen, you’re not in our plans next season, start looking for another club,'" he added. "But that unfortunately is not the way it goes. Until they get the target they want over the line they are going to keep you just as an insurance policy. That is not me complaining or getting on my violin out, that is just how it is.”
Soon to be 32, Burns is now among the elder statesman and at Leicester and has evidently learnt from his experiences. With a year-and-a-half still to go on his latest Tigers tenure, many around the club will be hoping he extends his stay, particularly if he can clinch a Premiership crown in his first season back.
