Thursday, July 25, 2013

Good Start Key for Burns

Gloucester fly-half Freddie Burns may have set his sights on snatching the England no.10 jersey ahead of the next World Cup but the 23-year-old knows that club form must come first if he is to become a fixture in the national side.

Burns made his debut for England in their famous victory over the All Blacks last December and since then he has impressed whilst starting at number 10 in both of their games on tour in Argentina.

For Burns, his first three England caps are just the start and his unbeaten run in an international shirt has only whetted his appetite for more success.

 "I have huge ambition with England over the next two years with the World Cup coming,” Burns said "Of course I want to be involved in those autumn internationals,” he added, looking forward to England’s games against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.

Despite his lofty ambition to oust Owen Farrell from the England starting line-up, Burns knows that any success at international level will only come as a result of another successful season with Gloucester and, after missing out on the play offs last year despite being well fancied in the rugby betting, a good start will be crucial.

“I know that [international recognition] comes off the back of playing well for Gloucester, so that's my main aim and my main focus,” the man from Bath said."Hopefully I can get a good start. I definitely want to keep pushing but I'm not looking at anything other than getting a good start."

Burns certainly came out of the England tour to Argentina with a lot of credit but he still has some way to go to displace Owen Farrell.

Another solid season could see Burns move further into Stuart Lancaster’s thoughts but for the moment he is right to concentrate on success with Gloucester.

If Burns can regularly produce his best form then punters who bet on rugby feel Gloucester will be hard to stop as they look to make up for last season’s disappointment.