LEEDS RHINOS legend Kevin Sinfield has revealed the inspiration behind his meteoric rise to England rugby union defence coach lies with his lifelong friend and former teammate Rob Burrow.
Sinfield only left rugby league for union back in late 2021, having been appointed as defence coach of Leicester Tigers, but his rise since then has taken him all the way to England.
And now Sinfield has hailed Burrow as the catalyst behind that growth.
“Rob’s (Burrow) inspired me in so many different ways and it’s probably a large reason why I’m here,” Sinfield said in his first press conference as England defence coach.
“My old mate got diagnosed with motor neurone disease back in December 2019 – without that horrible news I’m not sure I would have come down this path.
“Towards the back end of 2020 I was able to do the first (MND-fundraising) challenge and as soon as I finished it I knew I had to do something different with my life.
“A lot of that is based around Rob – he’s faced with this horrific disease and I realised I needed to take some risk and find more challenge in my life.”
The journey since Sinfield first made the step into rugby union has been incredibly to say the least and the man himself is surprised at how quickly his journey has taken him to England.
“If you’d have told me I’d find myself here 15-16 months ago, I’d have had to pinch myself. It’s been an unbelievable journey.
“After the first couple of days, I thought to myself: ‘what have I done? Can I survive?’ I’ve loved every single minute of it.
“I’ve also got a couple of things from Rob about fight – the people I have been able to surround myself with over the last couple of years have been real fighters and they also care about the people around them.”
Sinfield’s fundraising effort continues with the former Leeds hero taking part in the Rob Burrow Marathon on May 14 with the hope of pushing Rob around the circuit in his specially-designed wheelchair.
