Kevin Sinfield has been granted compassionate leave for England’s tour of New Zealand and will fly home next weekend to attend the funeral of his friend Rob Burrow.
Sinfield will miss the first Test against the All Blacks but is scheduled to return in time for the second Test in Auckland next weekend.
The inspirational Bro, who died on June 2 aged 41, battled motor neurone disease for almost five years. His close friend Sinfield has helped raise millions of pounds for charity in support of his former team-mate and will return to the UK next Friday to attend Burrow’s private funeral in Pontefract on Sunday.
Sinfield, 43, is England’s skills and kicking coach but also plays a wider mentoring role with less experienced members of the squad. However, England head coach Steve Borthwick fully understands Sinfield’s desire to take a break from the tour to pay tribute to his long-term colleague at Leeds Rhinos.
Sinfield is scheduled to return to the UK in just over 48 hours, but as his extraordinary ultramarathon time proves, long distances don’t faze him. “I will be flying back on Friday, which unfortunately means I will miss my exams,” he said.
“I’ll go home for two days and then I’ll be back here preparing for the second test. Steve has been very supportive… he totally understands and I couldn’t ask for more.
“It was tough. I saw Rob on Thursday before he passed away. I knew he wasn’t in good health, but I walked in to see him and he had this big smile and it was just wonderful. He died on Sunday afternoon, Monday we were at camp before heading to Japan.
“That’s when you want to be with family and friends on Monday morning before I go to Pennyhill. I was at the site of the Rob Burrow MND Centre. They put the first shovel in the ground and his mum , dad and his sisters were all there.
However, Sinfield’s recent absence from England duty has prevented him from attending several public events to pay tribute to Burrow, including Rugby League’s Premier League final, FA Cup final and Rugby League’s Challenge Cup final.
“I’ve missed a lot of things over the past few weeks. The response and respect from everyone across the UK for Rob has been brilliant and pleasing. There was also a huge tribute at the MND round of the Chinese Super League last weekend. There are some things I’ve missed Would love to see it with my own eyes.
The former England rugby union captain is grateful for the support he has received from players and coaches on tours of Japan and New Zealand. “It’s great to be able to get away and have time to reflect. Rob wants me to come here and be a part of it. He wants me to try and support these guys. The lads have been great throughout my time working with them. Outstanding… they showed compassion and care that doesn’t go unnoticed Steve and the management team are great too and they understand very well when you lose someone – especially someone close to you. It’s hard. I couldn’t ask for more support.
Newsletter Promotion Post
Sinfield will step down from his current role after this tour, but England players strongly want him to stay. However, he has not confirmed his future plans yet. “I’ve thought about it a lot, but I can’t share it with you today. We’ll see. What I will say is that what happened to Rob over the past few weeks has made me think about it a lot again.
“He was a huge inspiration when I first joined rugby league and continues to inspire the career choices I have made since he was diagnosed with the disease four and a half years ago. I have loved being with England Rugby Time spent together, working with the boys, we’ll see what happens next.
Meanwhile, England visited a children’s hospital and Auckland food bank set up by former All Black Sir Michael Jones on the sidelines of training ahead of their series against the All Blacks. Sinfield said all players are expected to remain fit and is optimistic they will remain competitive in Dunedin in his absence.
“We’re not going to make any rash, bold statements, but we’re really looking forward to the game. After 12 days of hot weather in Japan, I think we’re going to get something out of it. The performance of these guys has been exemplary. I Thought we would get something back through the training they put in.
