World Cup has made Rob Burrow 'bit of a' rugby union fan – Kevin Sinfield

Rob Burrow has become a rugby union fan after watching his friend Kevin Sinfield help steer England into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Burrow and Sinfield were team-mates at league outfit Leeds Rhinos for 14 years until fate placed them on a different path when Burrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019.

Sinfield has since raised over £8million for MND charities by completing a series of remarkable endurance events, including running seven ultra-marathons in seven days.

The duo were celebrated at the Pride of Britain Awards on Sunday, winning the special recognition award, although Sinfield was unable to attend the ceremony because of his World Cup commitments.

England face Fiji in Marseille on Sunday and Sinfield has been preparing the defence – with inspiration from his closest friend.

“For me it’s important to understand why you’re here and then try and channel that and use it in the right way,” Sinfield said.

“Everybody’s different. For me it’s for family, it’s my family the most. But also there’s my good mate Rob, who’s probably partly why I’m here.

“He’s been watching the games at home and he’s becoming a bit of a fan, so he’ll be tuning into the quarter-final.”

When asked if Burrow is now a union convert, Sinfield said: “Yeah he is, yeah.

“I haven’t spoken to him that much – he’s been to that many different award dinners the last couple of weeks, it’s hard trying to keep track!

“He was on holiday the weekend before, so we just chat about general stuff, but he’s been following the games. He’s been really enjoying it. He would have made a great scrum-half, by the way.”