Burrell: I owe it all to my angry mum!
WHEN Luther Burrell found out on Monday that he had been selected for his England debut he had cause to be grateful for the angry email his mother Joyce sent Stuart Lancaster many years ago.
The Northampton centre was 15 at the time and had been overlooked by Leeds, where the man who is now national coach was in charge of the academy.
Mrs Burrell was not amused, as Lancaster soon realised. Stung by her message, he invited Luther in for a trial and his rugby career took off from there.
Now, as he prepares for a daunting first Test appearance in tomorrow’s RBS 6 Nations opener against France in Paris, Burrell recalled the episode.
‘When I was 15, one of my teammates at Huddersfield managed to get picked up by Leeds’ elite player development scheme,’ he said.
‘I was pretty unhappy about it so I went home and had a bit of a sulk to my parents. My mother said, “I’m not having this” and fired an email across to the secretary at Leeds. It got to Stuart, he got back and invited me to a trial.
‘I had the trial a couple of weeks later and I haven’t looked back since. I owe a lot to my parents anyway — for driving me around up and down the country and I owe a lot to my mum for writing that email as well!’
The connection with Lancaster endured through his teenage years and the head coach has tracked Burrell’s progress since.
HAVING been picked to start at outside centre for England in the continued absence of Manu Tuilagi, the newcomer at No 13 revealed how the head coach acted as a vital mentor to him when he was finding his feet at Leeds.
‘I think Stuart is going to be just as proud as my family and friends are,’ he said.
‘We’ve got quite a bit of history and I owe a lot of my younger years to Stuart and what he did for me. He brought me over to Leeds and I signed my first professional contract with him.
‘I wouldn’t say I was on the right path as a young lad and he told me, “You’ve got one shot at this, I’ll be there and I’ll get you through” and he did.
‘As a young lad you sometimes get in with the wrong crowd. I saw sport as giving me a different dimension and when Stuart brought me in at Leeds I never looked back from there. I owe a lot to him and it’s nice that I can reach this level and work with him again as an England player.’
Burrell eventually moved on from Leeds eds to Sale but endured a frustrating spell at the Cheshire club, where he suffered an early injury, was sent out on loan to lower-league clubs and wondered quite where his career was going.
But since joining Northampton he has emerged as a forceful midfield presence: a power carrier and dominant tackler but also armed with a subtle, varied passing game. Lancaster is delighted to have had good reason to promote a player who he long ago identified as a promising talent — especially as Burrell has had to work so hard for his chance.
‘It’s been a rollercoaster,’ said the head coach. ‘He came through as a really raw but exciting player. He’s not had it easy, he’s had to fight his way to the top. But he’s got there and I had great pride in saying to him that he’s going to start because we go back a long way.’
For Burrell this will be the high-profile Test occasion he has yearned to be a part of but he’s already had a taste of international rugby — in Sevens, representing the West Indies.
The opportunity arose as his father Geoff is from Jamaica.
‘I was 19 and at Leeds,’ he said. ‘Andy Key was in charge at the time and it was one of his mates who fired an email to him asking if he had any players who would qualify to play for the West Indies in the Hong Kong Sevens.
‘Thankfully the team weren’t IRB registered so it didn’t jeopardise my future (with England).
‘There’s no way I would have got on that plane otherwise.’
Tomorrow’s match against France will be an altogether more intense, taxing experience but Burrell feels ready.
He has waited patiently for his chance and now it has come, thanks in large part to his mum.