From Country Roads to Queen: Five mental moments that made Freddie Burns a cult hero
Five times Freddie Burns shook rugby. PA Images/Mike Egerton
Freddie Burns, one of rugby’s biggest personalities, has retired from the game after 20 years of professional rugby, which included stints in Japan, England, New Zealand and most recently, Romania.
The 36-year-old won five Test caps for England between 2012 and 2014, but failed to add to that total due to the intense competition for places at that time.
He spent the majority of his club career in England, playing for Premiership sides Bath, Gloucester and Leicester Tigers – the latter of which he helped win the Gallagher PREM.
But for all his talent and accolades, it’s his personality that he will be most remembered for. So without further ado, let’s look back at five times that Burns made headlines.
A debut to remember
At just 22 years of age, Burns made his England debut, appearing off the bench to kick two penalties in a 38-21 victory over the famous All Blacks.
He arrived on the hallowed Twickenham turf with just 15 minutes left on the clock, and sunk his first kick in front of the posts just a minute later. He kept the All Blacks under pressure with a couple of clever open-play kicks, before knocking over his second penalty to effectively secure victory with just eight minutes remaining.
He would face the All Blacks twice more before his international career would end abruptly, with his final match coming in a 20-15 loss at Eden Park in June 2014, where he would score 12 points in an impressive number 10 performance.
Never celebrate too early
In 2018, Burns was largely playing second fiddle to Rhys Priestland at Bath, and his efforts to become the number one fly-half at the club took a major hammering during a European Champions Cup match against Toulouse.
Playing at full-back against a team that included a young Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack on the bench, Burns broke through the tackle of a young Ntamack to trot over the line with no other defenders in sight.
Bath were two points behind, and with five minutes on the clock, Burns looked to have reversed their fortunes with this late winner over the European giants.
Fate, and a Toulouse winger, had different ideas, however. A kiss to the crowd and tap of the club crest were enough of a celebration for Burns before touching the ball down, but he never did get to finish off his showboating. French winger Maxime Medard appeared as silent as a Parisian mime to flick the ball out of Burns’ open hand and deny Bath the late victory.
As Burns led on the ground, wishing it would swallow him up, teammate Jackson Willison gave him a frustrated thwack around the back of the head. His teammate would later assess the situation, saying: “No-one is going to be as disappointed as Fred. He is always the guy that is training first and finishing last. There won’t be an issue getting behind him.”
“When Freddie is on form he’s fantastic for this team,” added captain Priestland. “We need him to come into training this week with the swagger he always brings. He’s a big character.”
Burns and the Bath fans eventually moved on from this major faux pas, but it’ll surely still leave Burns a little red-faced when he recollects it.
The redemption arc
The charismatic playmaker is the owner of probably the most famous finish to a Premiership final.
The year was 2022, and Burns was midway through his second stint with Leicester Tigers. He had won the Gallagher Player of the Month award just a few months prior, and was in the form of his life.
In his 35th and final match of the season, he had arrived off the bench early in the game for an injured George Ford. Ordinarily this would have been a simple switch, but Burns had not started a game at number 10 since round 20 of that season – and this was the final. So he had 70 minutes to gain control over the match.
In a cagey affair, Tigers found themselves level with Saracens on the scoreboard, but down a man on the teamsheet as the game came to its conclusion – and what a conclusion it was.
With less than a minute remaining on the clock, Ben Youngs slung the ball back to Burns, who fired it through the posts to secure victory and write the Tigers into the history books.
Many will remember his look of sheer concentration after the kick went through, as the Tigers prepared for the restart. It proved to be a redemption arc of sorts for the Bath-born star, who said afterwards: “It was one of those where I was ecstatic to get it over and then I looked up and saw there were still about 25 seconds on the clock.
“A few years ago I made a fool of myself celebrating too early, and I didn’t want to make it happen again.”
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“It’s all about me”
After scoring that dramatic, last-minute drop goal, Burns gave what has now become an iconic speech, in which he emotionally claimed: “Things like this don’t happen to boys like me” – a point that Youngs later poked fun at on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast – suggesting that the Bath Academy graduate “hasn’t really had a hard run at it”.
Following this elaborate claim, Burns made his way to the function room after the game, where he gave Tigers fans a rendition of Country Roads – taking in all the attention of the room.
The next incident can only be told best by his former teammate, Youngs.
“His missus at the time is in the corner, scowling like she’s fuming at him, like he hasn’t even acknowledged her,” he said.
“Anyway, [he] got down and is still giving the absolute beans, as if he scrummed, he mauled, he did everything, and it was only him that won it.
“And then as we were leaving, he’s at the bottom of the staircase, and his missus is having a go at him, and he’s like, “I’m gonna stop you there, right? This is where you’re wrong. Today is only about me.”
Needless to say, Burns and the lady in question are no longer together, but he certainly doesn’t mind retelling the story.
The McNight out
The evening didn’t end at the bottom of that staircase, though. In fact, it continued late into the night, and ended with a McDonald’s and a rendition of Queen’s famous hit We Are The Champions, livestreamed from Burns’ hotel room around the world.
Munching on a burger and some chicken McNuggets, the superstar Premiership winner celebrated his team’s victory with the prestigious trophy and some very questionable shades.
@summit.rugby Freddie Burns 🏆 Celebrating his Premiership winning drop goal with a late night Maccies in 2022 🍔 @Leicester Tigers @PREM Rugby #PremRugby #GallagherPremiership #EnglandRugby #LeicesterTigers #Rugby ♬ original sound – Summit Rugby
