FREDDIE’S NIGHTMARE
IN a few years’ time, when Freddie Burns is relaxing at home on the sofa, he will switch on his TV and reli ve t his moment on The 50 Greatest Sporting Bloopers.
By that point, he may have just about lived down the humiliation and earned the forgiveness of his team-mates.
Bath’s European campaign is already all but over because of his moment of self-indulgence.
They were trailing 22-20 in the 78th minute — after Burns had just struck the post with a penalty — and victory over Toulouse was in their grasp as the play-maker jogged in to score.
He blew a kiss to the crowd with his left hand and held the ball in his right, before Maxime Medard ran up from behind and knocked the ball out of his hands. Mon Dieu!
In front of a brand new American audience — broadcast to 85million homes on NBC — the full- back suffered the most embarrassing moment of his career. It was up there with Juan Manuel Leguizamon in 2007, Christophe Dominici in 2004, Will Carling in 1990 and Patrick Esteve in 1985.
Watching from the stands, his injured team- mates winced. They could barely watch. One even pulled his jumper over his face and, some 45 seconds later, Burns was hauled off.
Bath must now pick up points against Wasps and Leinster to stand any chance of qualifying, but that seems unlikely after their third straight defeat in all competitions.
Todd Blackadder, the director of rugby, will address the issue of celebrations in the team r evi ew at Farlei gh House tomorrow. Tom Homer suffered a similar fate against Bristol and, l i kewise, Chris Cook against Harlequins.
‘ It’s something we need to speak about as a squad — celebrating before we score tries,’ said Bath captain Rhys Priestland.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing the figure at Freddie. He hasn’t cost us the game — we weren’t good enough — but as a squad I just can’t believe we celebrate before we put the ball down.
‘I honestly don’t know what boys think they are going to gain by doing it. For me that is a non-negotiable. We can’t do that again this season. Freddie has put his hand up but there were bigger issues than the one dropped ball over the line. It’s a huge blow to our chances.’
Burns is a big personality who will bounce back. The irony is that he had met up with Medard for a coffee in Bath on Friday afternoon but now Bath are drinking in Europe’s last-chance saloon.
They powered to a 17-7 lead inside half an hour, with Jamie Roberts and Burns both finishing slick attacking tries, but the hosts faded and mistakes crept
Love this sport for the highs and the lows. Today was an ultimate low and a mistake I’ll learn from. I’ll continue to give my best as I always do. Lastly just apologies to the boys and the supporters for the mistake. I’ll bounce back... thanks for the support Freddie Burns via his Twitter account
in. Sofiane Guitoune pulled Toulouse back after some Strictly-style stepping from Cheslin Kolbe, with Bath’s gameplan falling apart after Roberts was knocked out.
The Welshman was hit high by former All Black Jerome Kaino and immediately surrounded by medics. The tackle was equal to Will Spencer’s ‘watershed’ sending off but, in this game of red card roulette, Kaino only saw yellow.
‘We lose a player for the rest of the game and they lose a player for 10 minutes,’ said Blackadder. ‘That’s life. It’s exactly the scenario why they have sanctions — to protect the player. Jamie was having such a brilliant game. We will raise that. It’s disappointing.’
Burns edged Bath further ahead in the second half but the game slipped away when Tom Ellis was sin-binned for a tip tackle on Rynhardt Elstadt.
Guitoune scored his second try in the 63rd minute and, from thereon in, everything slipped through Bath’s fingers.