Video: Farewell message leaves 'blown away' Freddie Burns in tears
Freddie Burns was left in tears reading out emotional messages from Leicester fans ahead of his final match for the club this Saturday versus Northampton. The 32-year-old, who dramatically kicked the drop-goal to beat Saracens 15-12 at Twickenham last June in the Gallagher Premiership final, is set to fly to New Zealand next Thursday to begin a Super Rugby Pacific contract at the Dunedin-based Highlanders.
Ahead of his final appearance for Leicester, BBC Radio Leicester asked Tigers fans to submit their memories of Burns, the out-half/full-back who returned from Japan in the summer of 2021 for a second stint at the Welford Road club he previously played for between 2014 and 2017.
The radio station got Burns to read out some of the messages it received about him and one particular message left the ex-England player crying that his Twickenham drop goal has such an effect on people.
“My first Tigers game I was taken by grandpa,” began the final message that Burns was asked to read in an interview that the radio station also videoed. “You were playing and I had the pleasure of meeting you after the game.
“I grabbed a photo with my grandpa and he had it on the mantlepiece of me with Freddie. Fast forward to the Premiership final many years later and my grandpa was extremely unwell the weekend of the final. Having been at Twickenham it was an incredible experience and all the work you had put in as a club came to a head that day and I couldn’t have been prouder.
“Shortly after the final the same night my grandpa sadly passed away. Before this, he couldn’t remember much at this point and could hardly speak at all. However, his last memories were… oh wow!” It was at this stage that Burns had silently jumped ahead with the message and its conclusion emotionally buckled him. “I am not sure I can finish that. WOW! I am terrible at this stuff,” he said before reading aloud the message.
“His last memories were watching the final on TV. We had a catch-up that night and so his last words to me were, ‘Your man from the photo won us the Premiership, didn’t he?’”
A silent pause now followed, with Burns wiping tears away from his face before he resumed reading the letter again. “We spoke about it, the final, and how proud he was. I just wanted to say how incredibly grateful I am to Fred and cherish the last moments he gave me and my grandpa together.”
It was then that Burns addressed the BBC radio reporter he was sitting with. “What are you doing to me,” he quipped before adding his own context to what he had just emotionally read. “I actually lost my grandpa last year straight after the London Irish game. So yeah, wow. Thanks!”
Posted on Twitter by BBC Radio Leicester, the two-minute video has so far been watched by more than 100,000 people and ahead of Saturday’s farewell appearance, a match in which he will wear the No15 Leicester shirt, Burns added his own social media thank you to the video post.
“Been blown away by all your messages over the last week,” he wrote. “Thought I’d read them all until Adam Whitty put these in front of me. Thanks, Adam, and thanks, everyone. Can’t wait to represent one last time.”
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My ‘fantasy’ team V Ireland,
Including options from ABXV if needed, as V Mun better V Ireland better prep than England.
The most important aspect V Ireland is AB need ALL their loosies AND 'loosie capable locks' on ALL match [except IF(?) any tiring ie the aging & slowing eg Cane]. As follows,
{starting} bench (3rd choice)
1 {De Groot} / Tu’ungafasi (Williams)
2 { anyone that can throw!! }/ Aumua (Brodie McAlister)
Ryan! coach lineouts & Aumua to throw!
3 {Lomax}/ Tosi (Newell )
Tosi immense strength V England
4,5 Locks { P.Tuipulotu, S.Barrett }, Vaa’i, Darry
( Isaia Walker-Leawere)
Vaa’i off V Eng. Assumed due to leg injury(?)
6,7,8 Loose forwards { Sititi, A.Savea, Cane } Vaa’i, S.Barrettm, P.Tuipulotu back up (Devan Flanders, Du'Plessis Kirifi )
9 {Roigard } Ratima ( TJ )
10 {D.McK} Perofeta ( Plummer)
12 {J.Barrett } ALB ( Q.Tupaea )
13 {Proctor} Ioane ( AJ Lam )
Ioane (off V England ) but Irish experience (NO not Sexton!)
14 { Tele’a} Reece (bkup W.Jordan )
11 {C.Clarke} Narawa (K.Naholo)
15 {W.Jordan} Love (Stevenson)
Go to commentsI guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
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