Freddie Spencer Burns (born 13 May 1990) is an English professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player who plays
fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
for
Super Rugby side . Burns played over 100 times for
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
between 2007–2014, and over 100 times for
Leicester Tigers across two spells, he also represented
Bath in
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...
. He has also played for
Toyota Industries Shuttles in Japan. Burns played five times for between 2012 and 2014, including beating the All Blacks in 2012. In June 2022 he kicked the winning drop goal in the final minute of the Premiership final for Leicester against Saracens.
Burns joined the (New Zealand) in
Super Rugby from February 2023.
Club career
Gloucester
On 6 June 2008 Burns was announced as part of the intake to Gloucester Rugby's academy, joining from
Bath Rugby's academy.
On 30 June 2009 Gloucester Rugby announced that Burns was one of a number of academy players to sign senior contracts.
In January 2010 he re-signed with Gloucester, committing himself until the end of the 2011/12 season.
His contract was renewed in the Spring of 2012.
Burns came in for Gloucester in the game against
Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...
and got a conversion. In the next game he made his first start at fullback at
Kingsholm against Australia. In this game he scored a try. In the following match he was once again selected at fullback and he scored two penalties against the
Cardiff Blues. However next game
Olly Morgan
Oliver Morgan (born 3 November 1985 in London) is a former English rugby union player who played at fullback for Gloucester Rugby and England.
Club career
2004–05
Morgan made 2 appearances for Gloucester during his debut season. His first ...
replaced Burns at fullback and Burns made a start at fly-half. Burns then scored all of his club's points with two converted tries. Burns has since played many games at fly-half and fullback, including an April 2010 performance against Saracens. In this game he was named the man of the match as a reward for his outstanding kicking from hand, goal kicking and composure under the high ball. The highlight of this match was when Burns chipped over a rushing Saracen defence allowing
Charlie Sharples
Charlie Sharples (born 17 August 1989) is a former English rugby union footballer, who last played in the Aviva Premiership for Gloucester. He plays as a wing.
Sharples was born in Hong Kong. As a former Gloucestershire district athlete, Sharpl ...
to score a vital try in the corner.
Leicester
Burns joined
Leicester Tigers at the end of the 2013–14 season.
Bath
On 14 February 2017, Burns signed for hometown club
Bath ahead of the 2017–18 season.
In a
Champions Cup match on 13 October 2018, a blunder by Burns cost Bath their match against
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
. Having got behind the posts, Burns started to celebrate instead of immediately touching down for a try. However, a Toulouse player, Maxime Medard managed to knock the ball out of his hand.
Shokki Shuttles
On 1 May 2020 it was announced that Burns would leave Bath at the end of his contract to join Japanese side
Toyota Jido Shokki.
Return to Leicester
Burns returned to
Leicester Tigers ahead of the
2021–22 season. With George Ford called up for Burns started every match for Leicester during February 2022 leading to him being awarded the Gallagher Player of the Month award. His drop goal in the 79th minute won Leicester the 2022 Gallagher Premiership final against
Saracens and earned his first major title. Burns had earlier come on as a replacement for the injured
George Ford.
Highlanders
On 22 January 2023, Leicester Tigers announced that the club had agreed terms with Burns for an early release from his contract with the club – effective from February 2023 – to allow him to continue his career in
Super Rugby.
The next day, the announced that the franchise had signed Burns for the
2023 Super Rugby Pacific season
The 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia, Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific in Fiji and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 28th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition ...
.
International career
Burns represented his country at under 20 level and played in the
2010 IRB Junior World Championship
The 2010 IRB Junior World Championship was the third annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...
in Argentina in 2010.
Burns represented England Saxons against Ireland and Scotland A, and his form earned him selection into the England EPS squad for the Barbarians game on 27 May 2012.
On 1 December 2012, Burns made his England debut, replacing Owen Farrell during the 38–21 victory over New Zealand, during which he scored his first international points with two penalties.
Burns joined the 2013 England tour and played at number 10 vs Argentina in both tests. He scored two penalties and three out of four conversions in the first game when the team won 32–3, and also scored his first England try. He started the first test against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
at
Eden Park in June 2014, kicking 12 points in a 20-15
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
loss.
International tries
Personal life
Born in
Bath Burns is a former pupil of
Beechen Cliff School
Beechen Cliff School is a boys' secondary school in Bath, Somerset, England, with about 1,150 pupils. Its earliest predecessor school was founded in 1896.
There are around 930 boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form of 402 pupils. ...
in the city. His younger brother
Billy Burns, who plays for
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
and . Burns is Irish-qualified by virtue of his paternal grandfather, Tommy, who was born in Dublin.
In an interview with BT Sportat Silverstone Burns revealed he is named after
Freddie Spencer
Frederick Burdette Spencer (born December 20, 1961), sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.
Motorcycle ...
the two time 500cc World Champion.
In an interview in May 2023, Burns criticised the
Coronation of Charles III and Camilla
The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms will take place on Saturday, 6 May 2023, at Westminster Abbey. King Charles III acceded to the throne on 8 Septembe ...
, opining that while he was a proud Englishman, the money spent on the event could have been better utilised to assist people struggling during the
United Kingdom's cost of living crisis.
Honours
Gloucester
*
Anglo-Welsh Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
:
2010-11
Leicester
*
Premiership:
2021-22
*
Anglo-Welsh Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
:
2016-17
16-17 is a band from Basel, Switzerland. Their music combines punk rock, hardcore punk, jazz and industrial music.
Biography
16-17 was founded in 1983 by Alex Buess, Knut Remond and Markus Kneubühler. When the group played its first con ...
References
External links
Leicester Tigers Profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Freddie
Living people
English rugby union players
1990 births
Gloucester Rugby players
Bath Rugby players
People educated at Beechen Cliff School
Rugby union fly-halves
England international rugby union players
Rugby union players from Bath, Somerset
Leicester Tigers players
English people of Irish descent
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players
Highlanders (rugby union) players