Freddie Burns is laughing down the phone from Romania.‘It was typical of me to miss out the slide on my Instagram post that actually said I was retiring,’ chuckles the former Bath, Gloucester, Leicester and England No 10.‘I had to post it again separately just to make sure people were clear!’In an 18-year professional rugby career, Burns, now 36, has always been an entertaining character. So, it was fitting he continued that trend when announcing it was coming to an end on social media this week. In an era where most modern players trot out anodyne press conference quotes and seem reticent to show their true selves, Burns has always been an outlier. ‘I’ve had some good moments and some f****** low ones,’ says Burns, who will play one more season with Dinamo Bucharest before calling it quits. Freddie Burns has announced he will retire from rugby later this year. ‘I’ve had good moments and some f****** low ones,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport Burns kicked two penalties against the All Blacks on debut in 2012 as England stunned the world champions with a 38-21 hammering He also became a Leicester cult hero, after kicking the drop-goal that sealed the Premiership title for the Tigers in 2012He will depart as one of English club rugby’s cult heroes. A more-than-talented fly-half, whose last-gasp drop-goal sealed Leicester the PREM Rugby title in 2022, Burns won five England caps. His Test debut was one to remember. He kicked two penalties as a replacement in a famous 2012 victory over New Zealand. Not a bad way to start.‘All I remember from that night was being hammered when I went up to collect my England cap at the post-match function at Twickenham,’ recalls Burns. ‘I was bumping into all these legends, guys like Richie McCaw and Dan Carter. I was s*** faced. It was just after the 2011 World Cup and all the shenanigans that had gone on there. Stuart Lancaster was the coach and the RFU were still trying to save some face. So, we drank hard at Twickenham, then got the bus back to Pennyhill Park instead of going out.‘I woke up on the floor of the bathroom in my room at Pennyhill. It had a heated floor and there was a lovely little pile of sick cooking next to me. I was still wearing my suit.‘I was quite glad we didn’t go out that night as there would probably have been a good chance I’d have ended up in the Thames!’Burns adds: ‘As a boy, I lived down the road from where Bath trained. When I watched them, I remember thinking playing just a minute of PREM Rugby would have been enough for me. My career went miles beyond what I expected.‘I could have played more for England. But I want to be grateful for the five caps I got, not the ones I didn’t. It was five more than most people get. I want to avoid being bitter about things that didn’t happen because I’ve had so many good ones that did. I want to be thankful for that.’Burns played hard and celebrated harder. But his outgoing character – sadly all too rare in the game these days – shouldn’t distract from his on-field ability. Three of Burns’ five Tests came against New Zealand, scoring 20 points in two matches on England’s 2014 tour ‘I could have played more for England. But I want to be grateful for the five caps I got, not the ones I didn’t’Burns started at Gloucester, had two stints at Leicester, and also represented his home city of Bath. Rugby also gave him the chance to travel the world. He made trips to Japan and New Zealand with Shoki Shuttles and the Highlanders respectively and will end his playing days in one of the game’s more unusual outposts in Romania. ‘In rugby, there are a lot of very, very tough days with a few brilliant ones sprinkled in,’ Burns says, ‘One thing I’d say to young players now is make sure you enjoy your wins. ‘That doesn’t mean you have to have 20 beers. Now, players focus on having their protein shake and a good sleep. When you have a good win, sit in the changing room with your mates you’ve gone to battle with. Enjoy having a drink or two. Share time with the opposition. It all goes by so quick. ‘I definitely made the most of my career in terms of celebrating! But even now, I still wish I’d enjoyed certain moments more. ‘One of my frustrations with rugby is that there are so many brilliant personalities in the game, but some lads don’t want to express themselves or say their opinion. The Six Nations Netflix documentary was so f****** boring. It didn’t show the personalities of the players. You’re starting to see that more now with guys like Henry Pollock. Hopefully it continues.’If downing the All Blacks and slotting a PREM-winning drop-goal were Burns’ highs, one of the lows came in 2018. In action for Bath against Toulouse, he celebrated what should have been a try too early and Frenchman Maxime Medard knocked the ball from his grasp. Burns broke through as a 19-year-old, having joined Gloucester from Bath’s academy and going on to spend six seasons at Kingsholm Burns celebrates too early while playing for Bath against Toulouse in a Champions Cup match and has the ball knocked out of his hand by Maxime Medard‘The thing I’m most proud of in my career is my resilience,’ Burns says. ‘That’s what that incident taught me. ‘The biggest frustration with that game is if I’d scored and we’d won, I reckon I’d have been man of the match! I had a brilliant game at full-back. I scored one and kicked a couple of long-range penalties. Yes, I s*** the bed at the end but on the whole, I was all right! I’m glad it happened because of the way my career panned out after that.‘I went to Wasps the weekend after and I kicked well in a draw. I got off the bus there and immediately, there was a camera in my face. I knew it was what all the pundits were talking about. The keyboard warriors were after me.’Burns celebrated winning the PREM in 2022 by doing the post-match press conference in his pants, before a big night out, a mammoth McDonald’s order and heading to bed with the trophy. ‘We partied hard. It was just a big feeling of relief,’ he says. ‘Before I’d come back to Leicester, I’d had to deal with the blow to the ego of going to Japan. It was one of the best things that happened to me, but at the time going to the Japanese second division at 30 was tough.‘I was thinking, “F****** hell, is this where my career has gone?”.‘The funniest stories have come from the hard times. When Aaron Mauger was coach at Leicester, he came in one day and put a Tigers shirt in the bottom of an empty bucket.‘He gave each player an empty pint glass and said: “Go and fill your glass up with how much you’ve given to the shirt and what you’re willing to do for this club.”‘Most guys filled their glasses two thirds or so full. One of the academy lads who hadn’t really played much walked up to the bucket so slowly because his cup was so full. We absolutely f****** hammered him for that! ‘I don’t really care what people thought of me as a player,’ reflects Burns. ‘But I’d always like to think they’d say I was a good bloke”I tried to never lose the love of the game. Sometimes I was s*** and sometimes I was OK, but I’d like to think the fans always saw I tried. ‘I don’t really care what people thought of me as a player. People will think I’m good, bad and indifferent. But I’d always like to think that when my name comes out of someone’s mouth, they’d say I was a good bloke. ‘If that’s all I’m remembered for, then I’ll be happy.’