Rugby College: Luther Burrell"s mother got cancer all-clear on day of England call-up

Joyce Burrell is celebrating England call-up for son Luther Burrell

Hours before she found out her cancer tests had come back clear

Unsure if they’ll make it to France to watch match

Luther has been impressing with performances for Northampton

Owes it all to his mother – she sent an email to coach who picked him aged 15

By

Bianca London

PUBLISHED:

14:05, 31 January 2014

|
UPDATED:

17:41, 31 January 2014

It was double joy for one mother after she was given the cancer all-clear on the same day as she discovered that her son had been picked for England’s rugby union team.

Joyce Burrell, 64, of Huddersfield, was celebrating the England call for 26-year-old Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell.

But just hours after hearing of his call-up, there were tears of relief as doctors gave Mrs Burrell good news about her illness, telling her that tests showed that she was in the clear.

Geoff and Joyce Burrell have two things to celebrate: Joyce has been given the cancer all-clear and their son has just been selected for this weekend

Geoff and Joyce Burrell have two things to celebrate: Joyce has been given the cancer all-clear and their son has just been selected for this weekend’s England game

Luther is expected to run out for England in the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday afternoon in the RBS Six Nations opener against France – and he wouldn’t have ever played rugby if it wasn’t for his mother.

When Luther 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.Â

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 Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against France

in Paris, Burrell recalled the episode.Â

â€˜When

I was 15, one of my team-mates at Huddersfield managed to get picked up

by Leedsâ€™ elite player development scheme,â€™ he said.Â

â€˜I

was pretty unhappy about it so I went home and had a bit of a sulk to

my parents. My mother said, â€œIâ€™m not having thisâ€, and fired an email

across to the secretary at Leeds. It got to Stuart, he got back and

invited me to a trial.

Joyce is celebrating the England call for 26-year-old Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell

Joyce was diagnosed with suspected cancer in November but medics told her yesterday that she had got the all clear

â€˜I

had the trial a couple of weeks later and I havenâ€™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!â€™

But

for weeks, it seemed likely that Joyce would miss his big day because

of the hospital appointments scheduled in for the same week.

Now

Joyce and husband Geoff hope to be on the touchline for kick-off,

although they say their plans are still unconfirmed, as they were forced

to leave booking tickets, travel and accommodation until the very last

minute.

‘I was very emotional

when he went to Rome with the England team recently,’ said Joyce.

‘That was a big

thing but this has always been his ultimate aim so it will be very

emotional seeing him step out on to the turf if we are able to go.’

It was also an emotional moment for Joyce and Geoff, who were given the news of their son’s triumph at their Lindley home.

Mother-of-two Joyce said: ‘I got the first call from Luther at 5.15pm

on Tuesday when he rang and said: “Iâ€™m giving you the heads-up, mum, I

may be going to France.”

‘He said he would ring me later that evening and at 8pm he called to say: “Iâ€™m getting my cap, mum.”

‘My

11-year-old granddaughter Kaseyleigh was here at the time and she was

just jumping around with joy. She is so proud of him as we all are.’

Joyce is unsure if they will make it to the match in France as they may have left it too late to book flights

Luther has been edging towards his first England cap for some time, impressing with his consistently excellent performances for Northampton, right, pictured age 16

Being selected is a dream come true for Luther, who becomes the first Huddersfield player to represent England

at rugby union since Norman Macleod â€˜Nimâ€™ Hall, who made his international debut against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on in 1947.

Luther,

who is 6ft 3in and weighs over 17st, has been edging towards his first

England cap for some time, impressing with his consistently excellent

performances for Northampton.

Prior to that, he made 12 appearances in an injury-hit 2011-12 season for Sale. Since he joined the Saints, he has made massive strides forward and, last summer, was called up for the England tour of Argentina.

Joyce is celebrating the England call for 26-year-old Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell (pictured here aged 15)

This season, he has consistently impressed at Northampton, where he has been playing in the number 12 jersey and starts ahead of Brad Barritt, who is included on the bench.

In his first media interview, the personable 26-year-old told Sky Sport that it had been a long journey to achieving his ultimate goal.

Asked if he had stopped pinching himself he said: ‘Iâ€™m absolutely over the moon, I canâ€™t believe it has finally come true.

‘Itâ€™s something I have been working towards for a very long time.’