Retired drop-goal hero Freddie Burns set to return to Leicester Tigers as kicking coach

Freddie Burns, the fly-half whose drop goal sealed Leicester Tigers’ 2022 Premiership title, appears set to return to Welford Road — this time as a kicking coach. The club posted a cryptic video on X on 24 August teasing an announcement at 7:30pm, and fans quickly identified the Adidas Predator boots in the footage as matching those Burns famously wore at Twickenham.

The move would fill a vacancy created when head coach Geoff Parling confirmed last week that kicking coach Alex Davies is leaving to join Steve Tandy’s Wales coaching staff full-time on 1 September. RugbyPass understands that Jimmy Gopperth, 43, was Leicester’s initial choice for the role. The former Wasps and Tigers centre, who spent a season at Welford Road after Wasps’ liquidation in 2022, has since moved into a Business Development Executive role at Gallagher following the end of his playing career with Provence Rugby in France’s Pro D2.

Burns, 36, announced his retirement from playing earlier this month after a stint with Romanian side Dinamo București. In a statement posted on Instagram, he reflected warmly on a career spanning almost two decades. “As a child I dreamed of playing just one minute of professional rugby. To have lived this career for almost two decades is more than I ever imagined. I feel incredibly fortunate,” he wrote. “To have represented my country was the greatest honour of my career. Nothing will ever compare to pulling on that jersey.”

Capped five times by England, Burns is a deeply popular figure among Tigers supporters. Across two spells at the club he scored 719 points in 114 appearances, with the defining moment coming in the 2022 Premiership final against Saracens at Twickenham, where his late drop goal secured the title. He previously played for Bath Rugby, Yorkshire Carnegie, and London Welsh before retiring from the field in June 2020 and joining Tigers as first-team skills and kicking coach in 2023.

If confirmed, the appointment would represent a swift transition from retirement to the coaching staff for one of the club’s most celebrated modern servants.