Freddie Burns adds maturity to youthful flamboyance

Freddie Burns knows all too well what it feels like to be feted as the golden boy of English rugby.

For a good while, he was every romantic’s choice as a swashbuckling, fearless fly-half at Gloucester.

Now that next bright young thing mantle has shifted to Henry Slade, of Exeter, as Burns’s fortunes rose and then fairly dramatically fell.

Last season, he found himself excommunicated at Gloucester, his hometown club, after signing for Leicester, although he did rather improbably start two England matches against New Zealand in the summer tour.

Even once he arrived at Welford Road, t…