Freddie Burns, the former fly-half of Leicester Tigers, has officially announced his next club after leaving the New Zealand-based team, the Highlanders.
Earlier this season, Burns obtained an early release from his Tigers contract to facilitate his move to the Southern Hemisphere for the 2023 Super Rugby season.
In an interview with TalkSport, Burns disclosed that he had received a one-year contract offer from Leicester Tigers but decided to prioritise his long-term career prospects and financial security.
Initially, there were rumours linking him to Ealing Trailfinders, a prominent Championship team known for their significant financial investments. However, it has now been confirmed that Burns will be joining the Shokki Shuttles.
Burns has secured a two-year deal with his new club, guaranteeing his involvement in the sport until the age of 35.
Notably, the Japanese side already boasts the talents of James Gaskell, a former player for Wasps, in their squad.
Andy Farrell included in controversial worst ever England XV
RUCK looks at the worst players to have ever pulled on a shirt for the Red Rose.
First of all, we have to say that to play for England you have to be a very good player – but these players, for one reason or another, never quite performed as they would have liked in the famous white jersey.
This team was inspired and partly taken from Mike Cooper’s origional blog on RuckedOver.
Fullback: Mark Van Gisbergen
Yes, he has a cap – only a fleeting one, as a late replacement for Mark Cueto against Australia in 2005 – but he does boast a 100% winning ratio in international colours, so you can’t knock that.
His main strengths were dropping the high ball under limited pressure and getting gassed on the outside.
Winger: Barrie-Jon Mather
He became the first player to represent Great Britain in Rugby League and England in Union. His move to union was part funded by the RFU, who were embarking on a strategy of converting some of leagues best talent.
However, Mather struggled to make an impact with Sale and moved back to Castleford in 2000. In spite of his poor form with Sale, Clive Woodward gave Mather his debut against Wales in the famous Grand Slam decider in 1999. However, Mather never played for England again after Wales won the game 32-31, following Scott Gibbs’ superb try.
Fly-half: Andy Farrell
Embed from Getty ImagesCentre: Sam Burgess
England, who fast-tracked Burgess into their World Cup squad in defiance of logic, Bath and the player himself each shoulder varying degrees of blame for arguably the greatest cross-code flop in history. We’re not saying he was an awful player, but the whole thing was a complete disaster.
Winger: Lesley Vanikolo
The Volcano’ stormed onto the scene for Gloucester, doing something ridiculous like scoring five tries on his debut against Leeds, before qualifying for England on residency grounds. International honours followed, with Vainikolo making his England debut against Wales in 2008. However, he failed to bring his try-scoring form to the international scene and was quickly dropped from Martin Johnston’s squad after winning five caps.