Blowing the whistle on racism ended my career - Burrell

Warning: This piece includes descriptions of discriminatory comments and behaviour

FormerEngland centre Luther Burrell claims that speaking out to expose racial discrimination in professional rugby brought his career to an early conclusion.

In a 2022 interview, Burrell characterized racism as being "widespread" in the game, showing Whatsapp messages and remembering training ground "jokes" he had been subject to while playing for Newcastle.

Then 34 and without a team, Burrell's only professional rugby since has been a handful of games with guest team the Barbarians.

"I've have definitely had to end my career because of what went on," he explained to media outlets.

"I wanted to continue playing, naturally I did. I sought that, and it fell through when news came out that there were investigations going on.

"That was challenging - I had to simply come to terms with the outcome and understand that this entire situation is a lot more important than me."

A rugby governing body investigation in April 2023 found Burrell's allegations were accurate "on the balance of probability", but said it could not gather enough proof to definitively say they happened at Newcastle.

Burrell told media he also encountered discrimination within the England set-up, during a Test career that saw him earn 15 appearances after his debut in February 2014.

"I have had multiple traumatic experiences within the national team," he stated.

"Some discrimination and some just outdated thinking that's really inappropriate."

Racism had become normalised in team environments, in Burrell's view.

"This is something that has been dressed up as humour and that's been the problem that I've personally suffered and seen," said Burrell, who is of Jamaican heritage.

"During a extended period you just begin to believe that it's the standard and that is acceptable and that it's not harmful, but that's nonsense."

Burrell explains he was finally motivated to go public after a team-mate at Newcastle referred to him as a "enslaved person" and told him to put sun cream on his arms and legs "where your shackles were."

The governing body said Burrell's disclosures had led to "a deeper look at the culture within the professional level and to the implementation of an action plan for the elite level."

"The organization has given significant attention on inclusion and inclusion in rugby union and a substantial amount of work completed both before and after Luther Burrell came forward and shared his experiences of racism and class discrimination," it continued.

"We are ongoing work with teams and stakeholders in the professional game to work for a culture of acceptance but recognize this requires patience and is an continuous effort."

All Prem and women's rugby club now has face-to-face education on creating inclusive cultures, with its success monitored via individual reports and feedback.

All England players, including youth squads, are educated in being "active bystanders" to intervene and protect others from damaging behaviour.

"You be so proud of what you have done," Burrell's mother Joyce told him as part of the documentary about his experiences.

"We know it has had this effect on you and finished your playing days, but in our view, you have achieved so much. We are so impressed of you and to have you as a son."

Burrell's father Geoff died shortly after the production of the documentary, and his sibling passed away recently.

Burrell, who grew up on a social housing in his hometown, maintains his work to make the sport more open.

His 12 Foundation aims to connect with young people in disadvantaged communities and support them succeed on and off the field with free sports coaching, mentoring and nutrition education.

"My personal motivations are pure, I want to see the evolution of the game and if others is prepared to tell their story then I'll continue to advocate for that cause because I'm not just pursuing this for myself," he said.

"We have an responsibility to make the sport as excellent as it can be and the more I speak about it perhaps the more comfortable fellow players will feel about discussing their personal experiences as well.

"I take the bull by the opportunity and continue carrying this flag and continue carrying this responsibility and accomplish what I can to develop possibilities and make the game more appealing and more welcoming.

"There are a lot of underprivileged children and a lot of economic hardship and I sincerely think that rugby has the ability to transform their lives, just as it transformed things for me."