RugbyRebels

“Things get said in jest without any thought. Every week, every fortnight. Comments about bananas when you’re making a smoothie in the morning. Comments about fried chicken when you’re out for dinner.

“I’ve heard things that you wouldn’t expect to hear 20 years ago. We had a hot day at training and I told one of the lads to put on their factor 50. Someone came back and said, ‘You don’t need it, Luth, put your carrot oil on’. Then another lad jumps in and says, ‘No, no, no, he’ll need it for where his shackles were as a slave’.

“Excuse my language but, what the f---? Where does that come from? Some players shake their head and others laugh along with it.

“People greet you as, ‘What’s up my n-----?’ It’s not meant in a bad way but when is it going to change? It’s a very, very raw subject. Over the past few years, it’s happened a lot. That’s the environment.

“It’s normalised because I allowed it to become normalised. I’d laugh it off. I’ve been a coward by not speaking up. Over the years, I’ve become thicker skinned. You know how long I’ve thought about talking about this. I will never name names but it’s gone on for too long.”

Oakboy wrote:In the past I have witnessed 'racial' banter that made me cringe with embarrassment only to have the guys participating (of different skin colours) laugh and joke in obvious harmony. Now, that must stop apparently. Fair enough. What I don't understand is how you can condemn stuff from years back without fully considering context and attitudes that prevailed THEN.

Puja wrote:
The issue is that people dont want to be seen as a dick, as a bore, as someone who "can't take a joke", especially when they are in a minority in a group, so they do swallow it down and laugh along. This goes doubly if your cringing in embarrassment was done without any real outward effect, cause if they "take offence" then they're the one causing the problem and there's a good chance that they'll be the only one. Far easier to participate "in obvious harmony".

Also, we're not talking the 1920s here - this would be the 2010s, so I don't think you can bring out "context and attitudes that prevailed then".

Puja

Puja wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:02 am Just seen some of the actual quotes and holy hells do they make everything much worse:

“I’ve heard things that you wouldn’t expect to hear 20 years ago. We had a hot day at training and I told one of the lads to put on their factor 50. Someone came back and said, ‘You don’t need it, Luth, put your carrot oil on’. Then another lad jumps in and says, ‘No, no, no, he’ll need it for where his shackles were as a slave’.

Jesus H Christ! I retract my use of the word "casual" from the opening post - that is fucking insane.

Captainhaircut wrote: ↑Mon Oct 13, 2025 6:56 pm Disgusting stuff.

I would say though that having watched a 34 year Burrell play for Falcons, I don’t think this did end his career…

Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Tue Oct 14, 2025 11:44 am There’s being in your thirties and not looking like you’ll ever bother England selection again, and then there’s been completely done as a professional.

A toxic, belittling work environment doesn’t seem like an unfair thing to cite. He may well have been on the wind down but lots of players go in to their late 30s.

Whether all this was simply dragging him down and affecting his passion/performance, rather than him being directly fired because of racism, it feels a bit off to counter his claims by saying ‘well he was crap anyway’.

I totally accept he wasn’t likely to be signed by a big club or missing out on years more at the top level though.