Freddie Burns admits England days are numbered under Eddie

By Neale Harvey
Freddie Burns will put body and soul into winning silverware at Bath after accepting his chances of an England recall under Eddie Jones are remote.
The ace playmaker’s stellar final season at Leicester cut no ice with Jones, who overlooked the experienced 27-year-old in favour of previously uncapped fly-half novices Alex Lozowski and Piers Francis for June’s tour of Argentina.
However, Burns refuses to sulk. He told The Rugby Paper: “I feel like I’ve been in good form for 18 months to two years now, but if I was going to play for England again they would have picked me in the summer given how I’d played for Leicester.
“I’d like to be there, I’d always have aspirations to play for England and firmly believe I could do a job, but if I put my realistic hat on, with the guys who were selected in the summer and are in the squad now, I’m well out of the picture.
Burns added: “I’ve not spoken to anyone involved with England since Mike Catt told me I wouldn’t be in the World Cup squad two years ago.
“That’s not me getting my violin out, I’ve just got to an age now where I have a lot of hopes and aspirations but realise sport is defined by a coach’s opinion of you. I’d love to play for England again, but it’s unlikely to happen under Eddie.
“I’ll never give up and I’ll keep plugging away, but it’s important you don’t let England drive your day to day stuff at your club. What gets me up in the morning is winning silverware at Bath and if we’re at the top competing, you never know.”
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Born-and-bred Bathonian Burns could have been forgiven for feeling apprehensive about returning to the city after running the backlines for two of his club’s bitter rivals in Gloucester and Leicester.
Instead, he has taken it all in his stride as he battles Rhys Priestland for the No.10 jersey.
He said: “I’m fortunate in that I already have quite a special bond with the supporters here because as much as I went away and played for Gloucester and Leicester, I’m one of them in many ways and I do feel like a Bath supporter at heart.
“I probably haven’t made the impact I wanted because of my head knock at the start of the season and getting the red card against Worcester, but I’ve got plenty of rugby in front of me now and, hopefully, I can have a run of games.
“Rhys Priestland’s been in good form and been called up by Wales, so it’s my chance now and it’s good for us that we have two top quality No.10s. It’s great that we can interchange and that’s only going to benefit Bath over the season.”
Despite home league setbacks against Newcastle and Gloucester, Burns is convinced Bath have the firepower to claim the Premiership title.
“We’re in a great place,” he added. “We’ve had some outstanding wins against Leicester, Saracens, Wasps and Scarlets so we’re capable of doing something really special, it’s a case of just being consistent and keeping standards high.
“The squad is a lot stronger this year, the boys are a year more experienced and, who knows, if I can get Bath to the top of the Premiership and we’re doing well in the later stages of the Champions Cup, I might yet get a call from Eddie!”