Former England fly-half Freddie Burns has given a very raw assessment of his rugby career when appearing on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast this week, calling it \u201ca hell of a journey\u201d, as he looked back at his short time in an international shirt and his coloured club career.<\/p>\n
The Bath-born maverick has appeared for a whole host of clubs during his time, including stints in New Zealand and Japan, as well as extended stays at Gloucester, Leicester and Bath.<\/p>\n
From his youth days at Oldfield Old Boys, Burns joined the Bath Rugby academy before transferring to the Gloucester Rugby<\/a> academy set-up. Since eventually turning professional, the 35-year-old has gone on to score almost 3,000 career points \u2013 including a last-minute drop goal to win Leicester Tigers the Premiership title in 2022.<\/p>\n As capable at full-back as he is fly half, the Dinamo Bucure\u0219ti player was also once touted as a promising young star coming through for England.<\/p>\n Although he did play against the mighty All Blacks<\/a> an impressive three times, and against Argentina twice, Burns\u2019 international career never took off in the way he would have hoped. Despite this, he\u2019s at peace with how his time with England panned out.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very aware of what I am, and I know what I\u2019m not,\u201d said Burns.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll back myself, like I think you all have to. I\u2019ll back myself against anyone on my day. I also know that I probably wasn\u2019t consistently good enough to be like a Faz [Owen Farrell<\/a>] or a Fordy [George Ford<\/a>] \u2013 like a 100 capper.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at what you want your career to be, and like, I\u2019d be lucky to have a couple of good moments. Obviously, my debut beating the All Blacks was massive, and then the drop goal that we talked about. I\u2019d never want to be that bitter ex-rugby player. <\/p>\n \u201cI was at the England game the other week against the All Blacks, and you do sit there, and you can\u2019t help but be a little bit envious, \u2018maybe I could still be here\u2019, but then it\u2019s like, I\u2019d rather be thankful for the five caps that I\u2019ve got, than bitter about the ones that I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallabies scrum-half\u2019s \u2018don\u2019t really care\u2019 verdict on NRL\u2019s star\u2019s possible code switch<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA hell of a ride\u201d<\/p>\n Burns\u2019 name will forever be synonymous with the game. From hitting last-minute drop goals to having the ball stripped from his hands while celebrating a try that never was, and even telling his ex-partner that the Premiership final was all about him<\/a>, there\u2019s no doubt that the ageing star has made a huge impact on the game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a hell of a journey,\u201d continued Burns. \u201cI\u2019ve probably made every mistake you can make in a game, but then also had the highs of some certain moments. Like a shinned drop goal that I\u2019ve not hit since.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI played down in New Zealand with the Highlanders, played in Japan, and I\u2019m now in Romania. I just think that when it comes to retiring, I\u2019ll be able to sit back and just be like, \u2018God, that was a hell of a ride.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve contributed to those teams as well, which I\u2019m glad about. So I am proud of what I\u2019ve achieved. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019d always feel like I left a little bit out there, but not through want of trying.\u201d<\/p>\n Compared to Farrell and Ford<\/p>\n With so many highlights to his frenzied career, many fans in years to come will wonder, just how good was Freddie Burns?\u00a0Well, on his day, as good as anyone, but it wasn\u2019t always his day.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m being honest, Faz and Fordy were always in a different class in terms of, not the type of person or style of player they were, but I was a bit more like a maverick in that sense. I\u2019d have some great moments, but I\u2019d have some sh*t moments.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I had a very short window to get my caps in, if I\u2019m honest. I thought that Fordy and Faz would come through, as they have, and dominate the shirt. So it was slightly different for me.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no timestamp on Burns\u2019 retirement as of yet, but one thing we can guarantee is that he won\u2019t go out quietly.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Investec Champions Cup match officials: Italian handed final rematch while Matthew Carley gets Leinster v La Rochelle<\/a><\/p>\n