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Fergus Burke
Fergus Burke (born 3 September 1999)[1] is a New Zealand-born professional rugby union player, currently playing at fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Saracens in England.[2] He previously played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby, and Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship (NPC).[3] Early lifeBurke was born in Gisborne, New Zealand, to an English mother, Julie, and a New Zealander father, Richard.[4] He has one sibling, an older sister named Georgia.[5] He began playing rugby union at the age of five,[6] but focused on playing football for much of his childhood, before returning to rugby in his teenage years, when he attended St Paul's Collegiate School in Hamilton.[7] Playing primarily as a fly-half, he featured in his school's first team for several seasons, competing in the Central North Island High School Championship.[8] He won the title in 2016, after scoring half of his team's points in the final.[9] After high school, Burke was selected for the Chiefs under-18 team.[10] However, he was spotted during a pre-season training camp by the Crusaders, who recruited him into their academy.[7] He then moved to Canterbury where, in addition to rugby training, he studied for a business degree at the University of Canterbury. He initially played for the Crusaders under-18s team, followed by the Canterbury under-19s team.[11] Club careerNew ZealandIn 2019, Burke began training with the Crusaders professional squad,[12] before being named to the Canterbury provincial senior squad for the National Provincial Championship (NPC).[13] He made his NPC debut on 10 August 2019, against Waikato. In total, he played 10 games in his first NPC season, with two starts.[14] Following his provincial debut, Burke was selected by the Crusaders to play in the 2020 Super Rugby season,[15] operating as the third-choice fly-half behind Richie Mo'unga and Brett Cameron.[7] He made his Super Rugby debut on 14 March 2020, coming on as a substitute against Japanese franchise Sunwolves, and scored nine points, including a try.[16] This was his only game with the Crusaders in 2020, as the competition was suspended shortly afterwards, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he did not feature in Super Rugby Aotearoa.[17] However, he appeared regularly for Canterbury in the NPC that year.[18] In the 2021 Super Rugby season, Burke established himself as the preferred understudy to Mo'unga with the Crusaders, and played a total of eight games.[17] He made his first start for the franchise on 4 June 2021, against Western Force.[19] For the 2022 Super Rugby season, Burke took advantage of Mo'unga's absence at the beginning of the campaign to make several starting appearances.[20] He played a total of nine games during the season, including five as a starter,[21] although he did not participate in the knockout stages, as the team won the title. That same year, he also enjoyed a major role in Canterbury's run to the final of the 2022 NPC, finishing as the competition's top scorer, with 147 points.[22] Subsequently, Burke extended his contract with the Crusaders until 2024.[23] Burke became a regular starter for the Crusaders in the 2023 Super Rugby season, although he played primarily at full-back, with Mo'unga continuing as the starting outside half.[24] Across the year, Burke featured in a total of 17 matches for the franchise, which included involvements in all of the team's play-off matches, culminating in the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific final, which the Crusaders won 25–20 against the Chiefs to claim the title.[25] He also recorded a further 10 starting appearances for Canterbury, almost all of which were in the fly-half position, in the 2023 NPC.[26] Prior to the 2024 Super Rugby season, Burke had been expected to take over the starting fly-half berth at the Crusaders, following Mo'unga's departure to Japan Rugby League One team Brave Lupus Tokyo.[5] However, he was ruled out for several months by injury, after sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in late 2023.[27] As a consequence of the lengthy recovery time, Burke made just three full appearances for the franchise over that season.[28] SaracensIn 2024, Burke departed the Crusaders and moved to England to join Saracens on a long-term contract,[29] replacing outgoing fly-half and captain Owen Farrell.[30] Following his first appearances for the club in two pre-season fixtures,[31] he made his competitive debut as a starter in the opening round of the 2024–25 Premiership,[32] kicking 10 points at goal during a win against Gloucester on 21 September 2024.[33] This was followed by a European Champions Cup debut on 7 December 2024, when Burke started and scored seven points in a pool stage victory against the Bulls.[34] International careerBurke represented the New Zealand Barbarians Schoolboys in 2017.[35] He notably faced the Māori All Blacks under-18s team.[36] In 2019, Burke was selected for the New Zealand under-20s,[6] making two appearances at the Oceania Junior Championship.[37] He was then chosen for the U20s squad to compete at the 2019 World Junior Championship in Argentina,[38] and played four games at the tournament.[39] In June 2024, Burke was included in the Barbarians squad for an international friendly fixture against Fiji at Twickenham Stadium in London.[40] He played the full 80 minutes of the match, helping the team to claim the Killik Cup with a 45–32 win.[41] Although he represented New Zealand at junior level, Burke also qualifies via ancestry, under the World Rugby selection eligibility criteria, to play for England or Scotland,[42] through his Dover-born mother and Glasgow-born grandfather, respectively.[43] Burke ultimately chose to represent Scotland and, on 15 January 2025, he received his first call-up to the Scottish senior squad, ahead of the 2025 Six Nations Championship.[44] Reference list
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