Ex-England star Freddie Burns has revealed he was sacked by Leicester over a Nando’s during a previous stint at the club.
Burns, who has since returned to Welford Road, had switched to Leicester from Gloucester in 2014 but a year and a half before his contract was due to expire, he was blindsided by Simon Cohen, the then CEO, over a Nandos.
“I still had a year and a half on my contract and Simon Cohen, who was CEO of Leicester at the time, said, ‘Can I meet you for a Nandos?’
“I said, ‘Nandos on the CEO? I don’t mind if I do’. Spicy rice, lemon and herb chicken, had one mouthful. He went, ‘Fred, we want to get rid of you.’ ‘What? I think I need to go and get a refill.’ There was me standing by the fizzy drinks machine wailing: ‘I’m getting sacked.’
“At the time it hurts but you look back and this is a business now.
“When a player leaves fans talk about where is the loyalty and all this stuff but that is gone from the game and one thing that has to change in rugby is you get a lot of people in the game preaching about family clubs and loyalty and respect and all this – but at the end of the day it is business.”