Luther Burrell (born 6 December 1989) is a 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 its m ...

footballer who last played as a for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

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 played rugby union for

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

(2006–2011),

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

(2011–2012) and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

(2012–2019), and won 15 caps for

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 ...

between 2014 and 2016. He switched codes and played for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in 2019. Then returned to Rugby Union after signing for

in 2020

Background

Burrell was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, West Yorkshire, England. He is of Jamaican descent.

Club career

Burrell studied at All Saints Catholic College and

Huddersfield New College Huddersfield New College is a former grammar school and current sixth form college located in Salendine Nook on the outskirts of Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current principal is Angela Williams. On 17 May 2016 the ...

and started his career playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

at U14 and U15 for the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

before moving to

Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the domestic National League 2 North having won promotion from National League 3 North as champions at the ...

. He made his senior rugby union debut for Leeds Carnegie aged 19 in 2006–07, and went on to make 41 appearances for the club. His rugby development was aided by several spells on loan to Championship clubs, including Sedgley Park (2007/08) and Otley. Burrell spent four seasons at Leeds before moving over the Pennines to Sale Sharks in 2011, and the following season he signed for Northampton Saints. At Saints he won the Aviva Premiership in the 2013–14 season, starting the final, and gained 7 England caps. He also represented the West Indies at sevens. On 19 February 2019 it was announced that Burrell would be leaving Saints at the end of the 2018–19 season to join

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

in July 2019. On 20 September 2020, Burrell made a switch back to union code to sign for

in the

on a two-year contract from the 2020-21 season.

International career

He was called up by Stuart Lancaster to represent England in May 2013 after his good form and an injury to another League convert

Joel Tomkins Joel Andrew Tomkins (born 21 March 1987) is a former English professional rugby league footballer who last played forward for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League, and has played for England at international level. He has previous ...

. In January 2014, he was named in the

starting XV for the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

opening game away to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 1 February, where he scored his first international try in a 26–24 defeat, running onto a pass to go over and score under the posts. A week later on 8 February, he scored his second try in two matches at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in a 20–0 win. He continued his fine form in the 2014 Six Nations by scoring another try in the 29–18 victory against defending champions

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

with a good finish in the corner, beating two Welsh defenders to latch on to a

Billy Twelvetrees William Wesley Twelvetrees (born 15 November 1988) is a rugby union footballer who currently plays centre or fly-half for Gloucester Rugby and formerly played as inside centre for the England national rugby team. Whilst playing for the Leic ...

grubber-kick. On 27 August 2015, he was left out of England's 2015 World Cup squad. In May 2016, Burrell was recalled to the England side under Eddie Jones and played in the summer Test at Twickenham against Wales. After scoring in the 20th minute of that game, Burrell was rewarded by being selected for England's tour of Australia and playing in the first game of their Test series win.

International tries

References

External links

SL profilePremiership Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Luther 1987 births Living people Black British sportsmen England international rugby union players English rugby league players English rugby union players English people of Jamaican descent Huddersfield R.U.F.C. players Leeds Tykes players Northampton Saints players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Huddersfield Rugby union players from Huddersfield Warrington Wolves players