Ashton Hewitt: Dragons wing praises Luther Burrell’s honesty regarding racism in rugby union
Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt has praised former England centre Luther Burrell on Twitter for exposing the racism that runs “rife” in rugby union.
The former Wales U20 international was born in Newport to a Welsh mother and a British-Jamaican father and has previously spoken about the racism he’s experienced as a player.
On the Scrum V podcast in 2020 Hewitt stated “it [racism] should not be let to slide” and he continues to stand by that statement as he encourages others to speak out against racism so that it can be “harshly dealt with appropriately”.
Rugby is no different
In response to Burrell‘s interview with the Daily Mail, Hewitt tweeted: “I hope this opens the eyes of those who think rugby is exempt from social issues.
“Huge respect to @lutherburrell for the honesty.
“Hopefully it encourages others to not accept racism like so many of us have felt we have to.”
Celebrated former British and Irish Lions wing Ugo Monye, who is now chair of an independent diversity and inclusion advisory group set up by the RFU last year, was also quick to commend Burrell.
Monye tweeted: “Bravo @lutherburrell couldn’t of been easy for you. Unfortunately a familiar tale with some uncomfortable truths.”
The ex-Harlequin fan-favourite is using his position in the public eye for change, having previously criticised former Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs’ administration for the lack of serious action regarding racism faced by players after empty promises of a robust racism policy that turned out to be just two pages.
Regarding Burrell’s recent exposure of his experiences as a player, it has been reassuring to see executives reach out to the player to work with him to learn more so as to bring about change.
RFU CEO Bill Sweeney said he has spoken to Burrell “to see if we can learn from his experience and possibly work with him as an advocate of change”.
Current Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor said: “I have spoken with Luther to apologise for what he has experienced and to offer support.
“While there is a lot of positive activity in the area of equality, diversity and inclusion, this is a reminder of how far we still need to go.”
Burrell response
With the dust now having settled after the initial Daily Mail piece, Burrell went back and told Sportsmail: “It was really great to get messages from Simon and Bill regarding what’s gone on. They were really concerned and sent their apologies which is great. It’s not necessarily an apology I was looking for by doing this.
“It’s great they want to apologise, but it’s about getting racism out of our game. That’s where I’m at with it. We had a good conversation and we’ve scheduled in some time in the next week to get together so we can map out a plan.
“I give a little bit of advice about where I think change can be made and things can be developed to make our sport a lot more diverse. The main thing for me is doing something about it.”
READ MORE: Luther Burrell: Veteran opens up on racism from team-mates