‘I shinned it but who cares!’
FREDDIE BURNS admitted his 2018 blooper had been on his mind after he became Leicester’s Premiership hero with a matchwinning drop goal at Twickenham.
Replacement fly-half Burns stepped back into the pocket and kicked the game’s crucial points as his team defeated Saracens 15-12 to win their first title since 2013.
Four years ago, Burns looked set to score a crucial try for Bath in a European clash with Toulouse but celebrated too early and lost possession under pressure from Maxime Medard.
He instantly went into rugby’s hall of shame for the error, but now has a place in the sport’s folklore for a different reason.
His 80th-minute drop goal was the greatest moment of Burns’ career.
‘I managed to shin it. It was like a dead duck going over, but I don’t care, it went through,’ said Burns, who was an early replacement for the injured George Ford.
‘I was ecstatic to get it over and when I was running back celebrating, I looked up and saw there were still about 25 seconds on the clock.
A few years ago I made a fool of myself by celebrating too early and I didn’t want it to happen again, so I tried to get the boys on it and luckily we cleared up that restart.’
Burns’ strike was just the eighth drop goal in the Premiership this season and it sparked wild celebrations among Leicester’s players.
Steve Borthwick’s side became the first team in Premiership history to finish top of the table after every round of the regular season.
Following the death of his wife Tiffany, former captain Tom Youngs was invited to lift the trophy with current skipper Ellis Genge.
‘We’ve been a team of fighters all year — we’ve shown that in numerous games,’ said Burns. ‘Everyone was talking about Sarries’ big-game players, but I wouldn’t have swapped any of our boys for theirs. We kept fighting and kept fighting. To have this moment with a group of players I couldn’t love more is special.
‘It was gutting for George to come off so early. He’s been instrumental in how the team has gone this year.’
Burns replaced Ford in the 24th minute after he suffered an ankle injury in his last game for Leicester. Ford will move to Sale for next season and celebrated at the end in a moon boot. The injury makes him a doubt for England’s summer tour of Australia.
‘The players have done incredibly well,’ said Leicester head coach Borthwick, who has led a remarkable Tigers turnaround. Leicester would have been relegated two seasons ago were it not for Saracens’ points deductions for breaching the Premiership’s salary-cap rules.
Borthwick added: ‘They have to handle the emotions in the build-up to a game like this and channel it into a performance on the pitch. I think they did it tremendously well.
‘For the drop goal, the composure to get themselves into a better position was phenomenal.’
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: ‘Congratulations to Leicester. They have had a phenomenal season and been top of the league all year.
‘They were the better team and deserved to win. Everyone knows they have got a phenomenally strong kicking game and they tend to dominate territory.
‘They trapped us in our half for long periods and backed that up with brilliant defensive work. Their defence was on point and a bit too good.’
Saracens’ bid for Premiership victory in their first season back in English rugby’s top-flight fell just short as their England stars Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Jamie George failed to fire.
‘We didn’t get anywhere near our best,’ said McCall.
‘Today doesn’t really feel like the end of anything. I feel that with this group of players we’re at the start of something. Hopefully we can use the pain we’re going to feel over the next few days in a constructive way to come back stronger next summer.’