Kevin Sinfield to miss England's first Test against New Zealand next Saturday to attend Rob Burrow's funeral following the rugby league legend's tragic death, aged 41 Kevin Sinfield will miss England's first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin Sinfield will attend the funeral of Rob Burrow, who died earlier this month By Chris Foy Published: 11:45 EDT, 28 June 2024 | Updated: 13:25 EDT, 28 June 2024 e-mail View comments Kevin Sinfield will miss England’s first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin next Saturday, in order to attend the funeral of his good friend, Rob Burrow, who died earlier this month after a protracted battle with Motor Neurone Disease. Steve Borthwick has cleared his highly-valued assistant to fly home, so that he can pay his respects in person, before returning to the tour ahead of the second Test at Eden Park. When Sinfield opened up in Auckland about grieving for his long-time Leeds Rhinos team-mate – who he has supported with heroic fund-raising feats in recent years – he said: ‘The funeral is a week on Sunday.
‘It’s in Pontefract Crematorium. It’s a private ceremony with family and friends. People might know where it is and come and stand outside, but there’s only about 100 people who have been asked to attend.
The rest will be asked to line the streets, which I’m sure they will. ‘I’ll fly back on Friday, which unfortunately means I’ll miss the Test. I’ll be home for two days, then I’ll be back out here getting ready for the s.