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Freddie Burns' joyous reaction to re-joining Leicester after four years away

(Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

New Leicester Tigers signing Freddie Burns has said he is “over the moon to be returning to a club I love” but insisted he still has “goals to achieve” in Japan. After arriving at Welford Road in 2014 from Gloucester, the fly-half left in 2017 to join Bath where he spent three years in the West Country before joining Japan’s Toyota Shokki Shuttles in the Top Challenge League. 

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Ahead of his return to Leicester for next season – a deal first reported by RugbyPass on March 17 and confirmed by Tigers six days later – the soon-to-be 31-year-old Burns took to social media to explain the move. 

“See you all very soon! Over the moon to be returning to a club I love in Leicester Tigers,” wrote the five-cap England international on Instagram. “For now though, I have goals to achieve with Shokki Shuttles as well as an unbelievable life experience to squeeze every drop out of here in Japan.”

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Burns later another message thanking Shokki Shuttles for the opportunity in the Far East and adding that there are “still a few chapters left to write”. 

He said: “Can’t express how grateful I am to Shokki Shuttles for allowing me to not only experience this wonderful country but also discover so much about myself in the process. Still a few chapters left to write with friends that I have made for a lifetime… will be sad to leave and will give my everything to achieve our team goals this season. Arigato gozaimas.”

 

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A post shared by Freddie Burns (@freddieburns)

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A post shared by Freddie Burns (@freddieburns)

The season is still young in Japan, but Burns will be leaving the Shuttles before the introduction of the new 25-team domestic competition which will launch in 2022. 

After the signing was made official, Leicester boss Steve Borthwick said: “We are looking forward to welcoming Freddie back to the club from next season. He is an experienced Premiership player who has played international rugby and will be a valuable addition to our squad.

“I have been impressed with the way Freddie has spoken about wanting to be a part of what we are building at Tigers and his determination to be a leader in our squad.”

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AM 11 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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