EVEN BILLY BURNS was surprised to hear just how long it has been since he was last capped by Ireland.
On Monday night at the RDS, the Ulster out-half delivered the type of commanding performance which tends to tempt questions about Test rugby ambitions.
In a 22-21 win for Ulster Burns was superb, managing the game smartly and providing three impressive try assists from his boot. With Andy Farrell currently weighing up his options at 10 following Johnny Sexton’s retirement, it was a timely reminder of Burns’ ability when he’s on form.
The 29-year-old has been capped seven times for Ireland but slipped out of the out-half conversation since winning his most recent cap in July 2021 after enduring some difficult days in the green jersey and struggling for consistency with Ulster.
Few would have envisioned Burns re-entering the picture ahead of the upcoming Six Nations but if he continues to hit the heights of Monday’s display, he might just squeeze his way back into Farrell’s thinking.
The player himself admits his desire to play for Ireland has never faded in the two and half years since his most recent appearance in green.
“It does feel like a long time,” says Burns. “Like, I’m desperate to be back. I loved watching the World Cup.”
Burns feels he is now a better player than the one Farrell first capped against Wales in 2020. An unfortunate error against the same team in the 2021 Six Nations badly knocked his confidence – with Burns previously describing himself as “a shell of a man” in the aftermath of his missed kick to touch as Ireland chased the game in Cardiff.
Ireland moved on without Burns but slowly, the Ulster 10 put the experience behind him and he can now reflect on one of the toughest periods of his career with a clear head. If the call were to come again, he feels he now has more to offer.
“Everyone wants to play at the top level and I feel like I’m a much different player to what I was when I was in the last time,” Burns continues.
“I’ve just learned a lot. I went in there and I probably didn’t express myself. I feel like I can handle the pressure a lot better than I did the last time. And that’s not necessarily the obvious mistakes, the mis-hit into touch against Wales. Just generally around the place.
“But, sorry to say it, I’ve just got to keep playing well and see what happens. I’m loving my time with Ulster. We all genuinely believe in the direction we’re going in, we’re trying to change the way we’re playing slightly and I want to play my part in that.
“It’s tough enough keeping my No 10 jersey (at Ulster), Jake Flannery is playing unbelievably well, Nathan Doak can step in there and play. Hopefully I can just keep building on this performance.
“I don’t want it to be a fluke, I want to keep building because the attacking kicking a couple of years ago was probably my point of difference and I went away from it, whether it be through confidence, lack of form or whatever, and hopefully nights like this one are performances I can build on and hopefully can go again for the tough challenge against Toulouse in a couple of weeks.”
There has been no contact from the Ireland coaching team during his time out of camp but Burns understands the thinking.
“My form hasn’t even warranted a phone call, to be honest with you. Like, I’m a realist, I haven’t been playing well enough the last couple of years. Not from lack of trying, I do feel like I’m hopefully starting to get back to the level where I was and I feel the style of rugby that we’re playing now will really suit me.
But again, it’s one good game, it doesn’t make me Ireland’s future No 10. I’ve got to back it up week on week in big games.”
Next for Ulster is a Champions Cup meeting with Toulouse. Burns will be keeping an eye on the phone beforehand, with a call from his mother proving helpful ahead of Monday’s defeat of Leinster – where Burns’ chip over the top saw Nick Timoney run in the opening score after just four minutes.
“I knew it had been a while when before most games my Mum calls me and says, ‘sure, why don’t you try a chip over (the top)?’ My mum doesn’t have a clue about rugby, bless her!
“She was (right), but she says it every week, so she was bound to be right at some point. But it’s part of my game and I enjoy doing it, and I’d say probably a lack of confidence maybe, the way that we used to play a little bit didn’t quite help that, but yeah, I want to get back to that and like I said, I’m desperate to make sure that this wasn’t a fluke.
“It probably wasn’t that we weren’t encouraged to do it, it was just the way we played, we were naturally a little bit more narrow whereas now we’re trying to be a threat across the pitch and on nights like Monday it’s easy to take a screenshot of the match and everyone’s in one half of the pitch but we’re still trying to fill the field, which makes it a lot easier for me to see those options and hopefully take them.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to continue.”
