After a somewhat disappointing start to last season, Freddie Burns fought back to become the reliable Leicester number 10 that won over many a Tigers fan. At the unveiling of their new alternative kit for the 2015/16 season, I caught up with fan-favourite Freddie to ask him about the season ahead and what he hopes to achieve from it.
Interview with Leicester Tigers Fly-Half Freddie Burns
What are you opinions on the new alternative kit?
Yeah I like it, think I prefer it to last year’s orange kit, the black’s a little more slimming which is nice! But it’s good, something a bit different and I’m the fan of a black kit so on the whole I like it.
What about the home strip?
The home strip I really like, it looks a bit more traditional I think, a lot more white in it but yet again another nice kit, I think both kits are very good, I’m just looking forward to getting out and wearing it now.
Bit of a revamp going on down at Tigers- new stand, new coaches, new faces. Do you think they’re trying to move away from the more traditional vibe?
Tigers is a club that’s always moving forward and at the forefront of rugby. The history of the club shows that it’s a club that doesn’t stand still. After two disappointing seasons in terms of not being in that Premiership final, getting out there to compete I think the time’s right for a couple of changes and Mauger coming in as head coach and a few new signings really shows the fans that we’re here to mean business and that we’re going to fight this year. I think it’s going to bring a slightly different style that we’re used to but it’s all good, it’s what the club needs to do; it needs to move on from maybe just slogging it up front and hopefully with Mauger on board and the new players we can do that.
How is training going with Mauger?
Really good. He’s brought in a new style of rugby and a new philosophy to rugby which is great. It’s always good to freshen it up a bit, last year was tough performance wise and not performing the way you wanted to, I think there’s a real buzz and excitement around the squad now – they want to get out and play the style of rugby that we know we can.
How are the new guys fitting in?
Really well, they’re really good lads. It’s tough work straight away and Mauger’s brought in a ‘compete to win’ attitude so there’s some little challenges going on which is helping the boys settle in even more. I was in their position last year and you don’t necessarily feel part of a group until you play that first game so they’ll be chomping at the bit to get out there against Argentina in the first pre-season game and really become a Leicester Tiger. So far so good, they’re fitting in really well.
This will be your second season at Leicester Tigers, what knowledge can you bring from last year into this coming season?
For me I just want to take that end of season form into this season. It wasn’t a great start to the season for me and I managed to put that behind me and prove my goal kicking and my all round game. I just want to keep moving forward from where I was last year so I’m excited to get back out there and build on the end of that. Hopefully with this new style of rugby I can really stake a claim and make that 10 shirt my own.
You seemed to be more comfortable as last season progressed, was part of that down to Owen Williams not competing for the number 10 shirt due to injury?
I think it just opened up an opportunity for me to get a lot more minutes, I went through a stage where I didn’t play due to Owen playing very well. It’s always hard to stake your claim when you’re only playing 10 or 15 minutes at the end of a game so for me I wanted to take that opportunity to really show the supporters and the coaches what I could do and I’m happy with how I’ve done that. I took my opportunity and hopefully I’ll get a show at the beginning of the year and I can keep progressing.
Finally, what are you most looking forward to next season?
Just getting back out at Welford Road. You mentioned the new stand and I think it goes up to 26 or 27 thousands seats. Also, just closing it off means it will be an incredible atmosphere – it already is but closing that stand off will be unreal so getting back out and hopefully competing for the title again.
Player Profile:
DOB – 13th May 1990
Birthplace – Bath, England
Height – 6’0”
Weight – 88kg
Position – Fly Half
Leicester Tigers will play Argentina in a warm-up match on September 5th, 3pm KO and begin their Premiership campaign on the road at London Irish on October 18th.
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