PRODUCING TWO INTERNATIONAL out-halves is good going for any family, even if there is seemingly no secret for success in the Burns household.
Freddie played five times for England, helping them to beat the All Blacks on his debut in 2012, and now stars for the Shokki Shuttles in Japan, where he is akin to a coach as well as the key man at number 10.
Billy, who just joined Munster from Ulster, won seven caps for Ireland in 2020 and 2021. He’s still only 30 but knows that he needs to be nailing things with his new province if he is to get back into the international mix.
There’s also Sam, who played international rugby for Cyprus after qualifying via residency while working there for the Royal Air Force. Sam was a “hybrid” back who could play anywhere, according to younger brother Billy.
None of this rugby achievement was really planned.
“I hope my old man doesn’t mind me telling you, but he didn’t start playing rugby until he was in his late 40s,” says Munster out-half Billy. “Then we started taking it up a little bit.
“I’ve got three older brothers, there’s four of us and we’re just incredibly competitive. We love each other to bits but we’re incredibly competitive and once one of us decided to start rugby, it was like, ‘Right, I’m going to be better than you’ and it sort of went that way. But there’s no real rhyme or reason for us going in this direction.”
When he was back home in Bath over the summer, Burns and his family came across old footage of the boys playing. Billy was five or six when he started rugby, having gone down to watch Freddie – four years his senior – and deciding he wanted in.
It has been a love affair ever since as Billy rose through the Gloucester academy and played for England U20s along the way, had six years in the Premiership and then made a big switch to Irish rugby with Ulster in 2018, his Irish granny ensuring he qualified.
After six years as their main man at number 10, Ulster opted not to re-contract Burns ahead of this season and he was looking for a new opportunity.
“It was tough, it definitely was,” says Burns of being told Ulster didn’t have a new deal for him.
“I probably expected it a little bit the way things played out. When you get to my age you can kind of see the way that things are tracking. So yeah, it was tough. It’s never nice to leave a place not necessarily on your own terms.”
But within a week, Munster boss Graham Rowntree was on the phone to him. Burns immediately shed his disappointment and felt excitement about a new lease of life in Limerick.
He has loved the change of scenery, making the move with his wife and their four-year-old daughter. They’re expecting a baby boy in January, so it’s all happening for the Burns family.
In terms of rugby, Burns is relishing the challenge of wearing the red jersey. The start of Jack Crowley’s season will only come in Round 3 of the URC so Burns is set to lead Munster from number 10 this weekend against Connacht.
“Jack’s come back the last few weeks and I’ve been a huge fan of Jack ever since he started,” says Burns.
“It’s a sign of how close we are that he dropped me a message on Sunday and we met for a coffee this morning, to go through things ahead of the game this weekend. He’s been nothing but great for me along with all the other number 10s.”
Burns enjoyed working closely with 22-year-old Tony Butler and academy out-half Dylan Hicks earlier in pre-season. His ability to guide youngsters is one of the reasons Munster signed him, their research having told them Burns is a fine mentor.
He recalls his older brother, Freddie, being a positive influence on him in Gloucester, while James Hook also took time to help him learn.
“I want to be that guy,” says Burns. “And I’m not too proud to say I want to learn off these young lads as well, there’s plenty of things in all their games that, if I can take just little bits, then I can improve.
“I also just love the game of rugby, I love talking rugby and bouncing ideas off people.”
Burns admits that the last two years of his career haven’t been what he would have wanted in terms of the consistency of his form for Ulster.
He points out that “you can sometimes get a little bit comfortable in certain places” and that the need to prove himself to everyone involved with Munster will be good for him.
Rowntree recently suggested that Burns has strong ambitions of relaunching his Ireland career, adding to those seven caps, but the out-half himself says he’s not thinking about too much right now as he tries to establish himself in Munster.
“I know I need to get better because I want to play out-half for Munster this year and if I want to do that then I need to be outperforming the number one fly-half in Ireland at the moment,” he says in reference to Crowley.
Burns has learned from his previous experiences with Ireland, which included some tough moments such as a missed kick to touch late on in a game against Wales in the 2021 Six Nations.
There were moments of pure class like his chip kick assist for a Jacob Stockdale try at Twickenham but overall, Burns feels he didn’t show the best side of himself for Ireland.
“It was a really strange time, that period, because it was during Covid and I went in and through nobody else’s fault but my own, I probably wasn’t quite myself,” he says.
“I went in there and felt that I had to change the player that I was because I was in that environment, but what I’d been picked for was what I’d been doing at club level.
“I definitely have regrets in certain things that I’d maybe do differently and, listen, I might have done them differently and still it might not have been the perfect outcome.
“But, yeah, I definitely do look back… I don’t know if regret is the right word, I don’t really know the right word, but those experiences now have put me in a better place in terms of handling pressure and stuff, I feel like I’m in a better position.
“I don’t regret it, but I’d love to have another crack at it at some point.”
Having his daughter has also changed things. No longer can Burns go home and sulk after a tough day. She is usually waiting to be brought to the park. Burns’ work-life balance is exactly that these days.
Signing for just one year in Munster suited because Burns wanted to be sure his young family liked their new home and he backed himself to earn an extension with his performances.
One aspect of his skillset that is sure to excite the province’s fans is the attacking kicking that is Burns’ superpower. He picked apart Leinster last season in a big Ulster win at the RDS and delivered another classy example during pre-season with a crossfield kick against Gloucester.
“It’s been something that I’ve always enjoyed,” says Burns. “I like to think I’m good footballer but I’m not actually a great footballer! That area of the game, though, I like that. I feel nowadays, especially the last few years, defences, they’re brutal to break down.
“The Leinster game, that was a very rare case when everything stuck and sometimes those nights happen but with the linespeed that they were bringing and conditions like that, you could be still there now and you wouldn’t score any tries, it’s crazy.
“So I like that inventive side of the game and it’s something I practice hard. I said before it’s a part of my game that sort of went away but it’s something I definitely want to bring back into my game and the coaches here are encouraging that as well.”
So before a ball has been kicked in earnest, Burns feels like this is all a good fit.
