England centre Luther Burrell has revealed the intervention of his mother, Joyce, and mentoring by Stuart Lancaster prevented him from following a troubled path.
Burrell will start at outside centre in Saturday’s RBS Six Nations clash with France in a debut that Lancaster admits will give himself “great pride”.
Their relationship dates back 11 years, when Burrell was invited to a trial at the Leeds academy that was overseen by Lancaster – at the insistence of his mum.
“When I was 15, one of my team-mates at Huddersfield managed to get picked up by Leeds’ elite player development scheme,” Burrell said.
“I was pretty unhappy about it, so I went home and had a bit of a sulk to my parents.
“I had the trial a couple of weeks later and I haven’t looked back since.
“I owe a lot to my parents for driving me around up and down the country and I owe a lot to my mum for writing that email!”
While Burrell’s ability pointed towards the professional career to come, the former rugby league player had clearly reached a crossroads off the pitch.`
“I wouldn’t say I was on the right path as a young lad. Stuart told me, ‘You’ve got one shot at this. I’ll be there and I’ll get you through,’ and he did,” Burrell said.
“As a young lad, you sometimes get in with the wrong crowd. I saw sport as giving me a different dimension and Stuart brought me in at Leeds and I never looked back from there. It’s been fantastic ever since.
Originally from Paddock, his family moved to Lindley, where parents Joyce and Geoff still live. Burrell went to school at St Patrick’s Junior and then All Saints Catholic College at Bradley.
He played rugby league for Under 14 and Under 15 sides at the Giants and Crigglestone before trying out rugby union at Huddersfield RUFC – so he was playing two and three games a week when he got involved at Lockwood Park.
Lancaster moved on from Leeds, becoming head of elite player development at the Rugby Football Union, and so did Burrell.
An unproductive spell at Sale ensued before the 26-year-old settled at Northampton, where his form as inside centre propelled him into the England reckoning last autumn.
In the injury-enforced absence of Manu Tuilagi, England persevered with Joel Tomkins throughout the QBE Internationals. But, with the Saracen in the treatment room and out of favour, Burrell has stepped straight into the starting XV.
“It’s been a rollercoaster for Luther. He came to me as a really raw but exciting player,” Lancaster said.
“I know his parents really well and how hard they’ve worked to support him.
“He’s played at lots of different clubs and been in lots of different environments, and sometimes that makes you really grounded and a very rounded player.
“He’s not had it easy – he’s had to fight his way to the top, but he’s got there and I took great pride in saying to him during the one-to-one meeting that he’s going to start because we go back a long way.
“It was only when he left Leeds that I stopped coaching him. But we stayed in contact when he moved from Leeds to Sale and down to Northampton.
“I always tried to help and advise him in the right direction. He’s ended up at a great club who have supported him on and helped him.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Obviously a different challenge. It’s about sticking to my role,” Burrell said.
“I’m not going to do anything different from what I’ve done for my club.
“I’m really confident that I should be able to step in and do a job.”
The proud father of England’s newest Rugby Union star will get to see his son play for England against France today after all.
Geoff Burrell will be in the crowd to see his 26-year-old lad, Luther, take on a tough French team in what is certain to be a baptism of fire.
The Northampton centre will be the first Huddersfield-born man to pull on an England Union shirt in almost 70 years.
Geoff, who lives in Lindley with his wife Joyce, was unsure whether he would be able to get to the match because of Mrs Burrell’s ill health which makes any kind of walking difficult.
Geoff, 54, said: “Joyce has had to stay behind but I will be there.”
