Billy Burns (rugby union)

Billy Burns
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-06-13) 13 June 1994
Place of birth Bath, Somerset, England
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
Club information
Position Fly Half
Current club Gloucester Rugby
Senior clubs*
YearsClubApps (points)
2012–
2012-15		Gloucester Rugby
Hartpury RFC (loan)		29 (63)
36 (276)
Representative teams

2013–2014		England U18
England U20
8 (84)
* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.

Billy Burns (born 13 June 1994) is an English professional rugby union player who plays for Gloucester Rugby.[1][2] His favoured position is as Fly Half and is known as a reliable points kicker. He is the younger brother of Leicester Tigers and England fly half Freddie Burns.

Career

Being born and raised in Bath, Somerset, Billy attended Beechen Cliff School where he first started playing rugby union, moving on to Hartpury College to continue his studies, being picked up by Gloucester to play for their academy side.[3][4] Billy made his first team debut for Gloucester on February 2012, coming off the bench in a 15 - 23 loss to London Irish in the LV Cup.[5][6] That year, Billy would also have success for the England Under 18 side, winning the European Championships held in Spain, scoring 7 points in the final against Ireland which England won 25 - 13.[7]

During the 2012-13 season Billy was sent out on loan to Hartpury College to gain experience of competitive men's rugby. He made 17 appearances in National League 2 South, scoring 71 points which included 6 tries, helping the club to 3rd place in the division.[8][9] He also made several appearances for Gloucester in the LV Cup and was part sevens side that won the 2013 Premiership Rugby Sevens Series in the summer scoring a conversion in the final victory against Leicester Tigers.[10]

The 2013-14 season saw Billy build on his sevens success with Gloucester, signing a new contract and making debut appearances in the Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership, but most of the season was spent back on loan at Hartpury College.[8][11] Billy had a very successful second loan spell, helping Hartpury to claim the 2013–14 National League 2 South league title and promotion to National League 1, and being one of the league's top points scorers with 205 points.[12][13] Billy was also called up by the England Under-20 team for the Six Nations.[14] In the summer Billy played a key role in England Under-20's victory at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship held in New Zealand, scoring 11 points as England triumphed 21 - 20 over South Africa in the final.[15]

After success with England at the U20 World Championships, Billy would get more game time at Gloucester, accumulating 17 appearances across all competitions and making the bench for the side that won the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup.[16]

Club Honours

Gloucester

Hartpury College

International Honours

England (U18)

England (U20)

References

  1. ↑ "Billy Burns". RFU. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Gloucester Rugby". Gloucester Rugby. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "RUGBY AT BEECHEN CLIFF SCHOOL". Beechen Cliff School. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Hartpury’s rugby roll of honour grows with class of 2015". Hartpury College. 6 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Teen star Burns gets his chance". Gloucester Citizen. 4 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Hartpury try machine Ian has a debut to remember". Gloucester Citizen. 6 February 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Euro stars Burns, Moriarty help lift crown". Gloucester Citizen. 9 April 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Billy Burns Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "English National League Two - South Table". BBC News. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Gloucester Rugby champions of the J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s at The Rec". Gloucester Citizen. 9 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Billy Burns agrees new deal with Gloucester Rugby". Gloucester Citizen. 1 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Hartpury College RFC crowned National Two South champions". Hartpury College. 14 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "National Two South 13/14 Leading scorers". Statbunker. 26 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Ross Moriarty and Billy Burns named in Gloucester Under-20s side to face France in Six Nations". Gloucester Citizen. 29 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Junior World Championship: England 21-20 South Africa". BBC News. 20 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "REPORT: Gloucester hang on to take second title". epcrugby.com. 2 May 2015.

External Links

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