Luther Burrell (born 6 December 1987) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who last played as a for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

. He played rugby union for

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LM ...

(2006–2011),

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

(2011–2012) and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

(2012–2019), and won 15 caps for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 2014 and 2016. He switched codes and played for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in 2019. Then returned to Rugby Union after signing for

in 2020

Background

Burrell was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, West Yorkshire, England. He is of Jamaican descent.

Club career

Burrell studied at All Saints Catholic College and

Huddersfield New College Huddersfield New College is a former grammar school and current sixth form college located in Salendine Nook on the outskirts of Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. On 30 November 2023 the college was assessed as 'Good' fol ...

and started his career playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

at U14 and U15 for the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

before moving to

Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The team plays in Regional 1 North East following their relegation from National League 2 North at the end of the 2023–24 s ...

. He made his senior rugby union debut for Leeds Carnegie aged 19 in 2006–07, and went on to make 41 appearances for the club. His rugby development was aided by several spells on loan to Championship clubs, including Sedgley Park (2007/08) and Otley. Burrell spent four seasons at Leeds before moving over the Pennines to Sale Sharks in 2011, and the following season he signed for Northampton Saints. At Saints he won the Aviva Premiership in the 2013–14 season, starting the final, and gained 7 England caps. He also represented the West Indies at sevens. On 19 February 2019 it was announced that Burrell would be leaving Saints at the end of the 2018–19 season to join

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

in July 2019. On 20 September 2020, Burrell made a switch back to union code to sign for

in the

on a two-year contract from the 2020–21 season. He left Newcastle Falcons in June 2022.

International career

He was called up by Stuart Lancaster to represent England in May 2013 after his good form and an injury to another League convert

Joel Tomkins Joel Andrew Tomkins (born 21 March 1987) is an English professional rugby league coach, who is currently the interim head coach for Catalans Dragons in the Super League. Tomkins was a dual code player, playing both rugby league and rugby union ...

. In January 2014, he was named in the

starting XV for the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

opening game away to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 1 February, where he scored his first international try in a 26–24 defeat, running onto a pass to go over and score under the posts. A week later on 8 February, he scored his second try in two matches at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in a 20–0 win. He continued his fine form in the 2014 Six Nations by scoring another try in the 29–18 victory against defending champions

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

with a good finish in the corner, beating two Welsh defenders to latch on to a Billy Twelvetrees grubber-kick. On 27 August 2015, he was left out of England's 2015 World Cup squad. In May 2016, Burrell was recalled to the England side under Eddie Jones and played in the summer Test at Twickenham against Wales. After scoring in the 20th minute of that game, Burrell was rewarded by being selected for England's tour of Australia and playing in the first game of their Test series win.

International tries

References

External links

SL profilePremiership Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Luther 1987 births Living people Black British sportsmen England international rugby union players English rugby league players English rugby union players English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Huddersfield R.U.F.C. players Leeds Tykes players Northampton Saints players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Huddersfield Rugby union players from Huddersfield Warrington Wolves players Rugby union centres Newcastle Falcons players 21st-century English sportsmen