'I have felt this year I have been devalued as a player quite a lot'

Freddie Burns had admitted he is heading towards the exit at the Rec following a frustrating season with Bath. 

The England out-half has spoken candidly about falling out of favour with the club’s director of rugby Stuart Hooper, who took over last summer from Todd Blackadder, the coach who brought Burns to Bath from Leicester in 2017.  

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Set to be out of contract on June 30, Burns told the latest episode of The Rugby Pod: “I have been the first to admit I have been extremely frustrated with the lack of game time.

“I have felt this year I have been devalued as a player quite a lot in terms of not even getting an opportunity when the team was losing or playing badly.

“With regards to next year, I have got something in the pipeline that is almost done and dusted. But as soon as this kicked off [the coronavirus lockdown] it suddenly put that into a bit of difficulty.

“Bath still haven’t spoken to me about whether they want to keep me or let me go. I guess from the lack of game time and the lack of communication the writing is on the wall for me.

“I have looked elsewhere, I have got something lined up. It’s still not signed but it is tough to have communication during these times because you are not seeing directors of rugby or coaches on a day-to-day basis.”

Burns came through the Bath academy before embarking on a career that took him to Gloucester and Leicester before he agreed to what he hoped would be a dream return to his native city club. 

“To put it bluntly, what should have been the dream move is turning into, not a complete nightmare, but something which is very far from what I was expecting it to be.

“Some of that I will take full credit for; I got sent off on my debut, I don’t put the ball down against Toulouse - that was completely self-inflicted.

"But there are other aspects which have been that have left me pretty disappointed and very frustrated with my time at Bath.

“The boys have been great, coaches in part have been alright, but this year I feel not even hung out to dry, just forgotten about.

“I feel like an academy player again that I am having to earn respect from coaches and not even being given an opportunity to showcase what I can do, regardless of the fact I have been training well and when I have played, out of position, I have gone alright.”

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