Newcastle Falcons’ Luther Burrell has stated that he believes that racism is ‘rife’ in rugby after revealing it is still commonplace in changing rooms of top clubs.
Former England international Burrell, 32, who has also played for Leeds, Sale, Northampton and Warrington Wolves in Rugby League, vividly described the kind of ‘racial banter’ that he has been victim of.
“Things get said in jest without any thought,” he said in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, “Every week, every fortnight. Comments about bananas when you’re making a smoothie in the morning. Comments about fried chicken when you’re out for dinner.”
“I’ve heard things that you wouldn’t expect to hear 20 years ago. We had a hot day at training and I told one of the lads to put on their factor 50. Someone came back and said: ‘You don’t need it, Luth, put your carrot oil on.’
“Then another lad jumps in and says: ‘No, no, no, he’ll need it for where his shackles were as a slave’. Excuse my language but, what the f***? Where does that come from? Some players shake their head and others laugh along with it.”
Racism in rugby has not attracted the same kind of coverage as in cricket, where Azeem Rafiq’s testimony drew attention to Yorkshire CCC and various incidents similar to that outlined above.
But England legend Jason Robinson alluded to the issue at the time, saying that cricket had merely ‘got caught’, and that it was prevalent in both codes of rugby he played.
Ellis Genge also put the problem on the agenda after sharing disgusting racial abuse he received in the aftermath of Leicester‘s Premiership Final.
In that message, the particularly abhorrent n-word was used, and Burrell revealed that this was also not uncommon in rugby clubs.
“People greet you as: ‘What’s up my n*****?’ It’s not meant in a bad way but when is it going to change? It’s a very, very raw subject. Over the past few years, it’s happened a lot. That’s the environment.”
Burrell said he will “never name names but it’s gone on for too long”, and expressed his hope that speaking out would lead to change.
He said: “My son and daughter, three and five, are mixed race. Would I be happy with them getting the same racial “banter” from their friends? Of course not.
“There are numerous players in numerous environments who have experienced it. It needs to be spoken about. Maybe it will empower the next generation to call it out and force change.”
In response, RFU Chief Executive Bill Sweeney “applauded” Burrell for speaking out, and alongside an apology, discussed with him how they would look to eradicate racism from the game.
He said: “I have had a conversation with Luther to see if we can learn from his experience and possibly work with him as an advocate of change.
“Inclusion and diversity is at the heart of our strategy and we want to improve education and awareness across our game.
“We apologise to Luther and all of those who have experienced any form of discrimination and will continue to work to eliminate it from our game.”
