Freddie Burns hopes to raise tempo of England Rugby squad

SPEED demon Freddie Burns hopes to put the pedal to the metal and raise the tempo of England’s long-term attacking game this summer.

Fly-half Burns believes England’s new-look South America tour backline could boast even more pace to burn than Gloucester.

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   Freddie Burns

   
   

Cherry and Whites flier Jonny May revealed that he edged out England pace rivals Christian Wade and Marland Yarde in a ten-metre sprint this week.

So for the summer at least, the former Wootton Bassett man holds both the England and Gloucester speed crowns.

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But powerful London Irish wing Yarde and Wasps’ arch-finisher Wade are no slouches.

And with Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond just as quick off the mark in midfield, Burns reckons Stuart Lancaster’s touring squad must exploit that raw speed out wide.

England did exactly that in dispatching the lacklustre Barbarians 40-12 at Twickenham last weekend.

Now they face a South American select XV in Montevideo tomorrow (kick-off 7.30pm BST), with Burns urging the young England side to seize their moment.

The British Lions boast eight English tourists in Australia, affording Lancaster a rare opportunity to experiment with selection.

Chris Robshaw, Toby Flood and Brad Barritt have been rested too, as England seek to expand the limited gameplan that took them through the Six Nations but is unlikely to carry them to sustained success.

Attack-minded Burns is keen to push for his own long-term England future this summer and he believes Lancaster’s full-strength side must take advantage of all the wide talent available.

England face two Tests against Argentina after tomorrow’s opening tour contest, and Burns hopes the side pick up where they left off against the Baa Baas.

The 23-year-old explained: “I’m very fortunate at Gloucester to play with young, quick backs, and here it’s almost even quicker.

“So you’ve just got to give the ball to JJ, Marland Yarde, Christian Wade and Jonny, and just let them do what they do.

“For me it was pleasing that they all want the ball, they all seek it out, and that makes us such a dangerous side.

“That’s how I want the game to be played, and that’s how I think it can suit England best in the long-term too.

“It’s important to balance that with the need to play the percentages, manage the game and control the grittier side of things.

“But you’ve got to be able to attack, open teams up and create and finish chances.

“That’s what we’ll be looking to do out here, and hopefully that’s the big challenge for England overall moving forward into next season and beyond.

“Stuart’s given us the confidence to get out there and show what we can do.

“And now it’s over to us.”

Burns takes a seat on bench tomorrow, with Northampton’s fly-half Stephen Myler handed a chance to impress.

Bath-born Burns and Gloucester team-mate Billy Twelvetrees are in pole position to start the two Argentina Test matches.

Burns claimed a try inside a minute in last weekend’s Twickenham Barbarians romp.

New Gloucester recruit Matt Kvesic snaffled a turnover, Burns threw a wide pass to set England away – and then capped the rapid strike with a smart finish.

Relishing his 20-point Barbarians haul, Burns continued: “I was happy to see Marland chuck it inside to me and to cross the line, but there’s a far bigger picture there and we did well last week.

“We got the performance right last week and that was important.

“Matt’s another great young player, I thought he was outstanding last week, and there’s a huge amount of confidence going into the tour.

“Hopefully I can keep growing in confidence and guide the side through this tour.

“Again, it’s all about balancing things out, but hopefully we can keep that threatening wide play in our game.”

ENGLAND: B Foden, J May, L Burrell, K Eastmond, D Strettle, S Myler, R Wigglesworth, J Marler, D Paice, H Thomas, C Lawes, K Myall, T Wood, T Johnson, B Vunipola. Replacements: R Buchanan, A Corbisiero, P Doran-Jones, D Attwood, M Kvesic, L Dickson, F Burns, J Joseph.

Freddie Burns hopes to raise tempo of England Rugby squad