Latest news with #FergusBurke
Scotsman
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
'It's a weird one': Scotland's latest cap ready to head home
Burke has been on song - on and off the pitch Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There weren't too many positives to take from Scotland's tour loss to Fiji in Suva but the performance of Fergus Burke at stand-off was certainly one of them. The Saracens 10 found himself making a few more tackles than he had anticipated on his Test debut but he acquitted himself well in what was a relentlessly physical encounter. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He was in good voice too, by all accounts, with a rendition of the Fijian gospel tune 'E Da Sa Qaqa' at the post-match dinner to mark his first cap. Fergus Burke made his full Scotland debut against Fiji. | SNS Group / SRU 'I went for a Fijian song so the Fijian community could all join in and help me out,' he said. 'So I think I did about the first line of the song and then let them take over.' Scotland hope to be back on song on Friday when they take on Samoa in the final match of their tour at Eden Park. It is a venue at which the Scots have never won but one that is familiar to New Zealand-born Burke who will have family and friends supporting him in the stands. Burke, who hails from Gisborne on North Island, around 300 miles south-east of Auckland, qualifies for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born grandfather and now finds himself returning home to make his international breakthrough. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Burke: 'Almost like it was meant to be' 'It's a weird one, it's almost like it was meant to be,' he said. 'I was in the Six Nations squad and didn't get a crack so it was almost like this is where I was meant to get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here and things like that. So it is pretty cool and I'm definitely not taking it for granted and soaking it all up.' Defensively sound, with good hands and an eye for putting players into space, Burke impressed against the Fijians on an afternoon when Scotland were second best. He played in Tom Jordan for the Scots' second try but they were on the backfoot for the most of the game. 'I spent a bit more time on defence than I would have liked, and probably ended up making a few more tackles than I would have liked,' said Burke. 'I probably would have liked to spend a bit more time on attack but I guess that's something we can look forward to this week. Fergus Burke was part of Scotland's Six Nations squad. | SNS Group / SRU 'I think we can expect a similar challenge to Fiji and I think for parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right. But when we get our discipline wrong we end up making a lot more tackles than we need to and we're tiring ourselves out against big sides like Fiji and Samoa. So we need to get the discipline side of our game right and that way we can be a bit better.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Burke has played Super Rugby at Eden Park with Crusaders, scoring a try there against the Blues in 2023, and is looking forward to returning to one the sport's most storied venues.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Burke feels force of destiny in Scotland debut
New Zealand-born Fergus Burke feels like "it was meant to be" after making his Scotland debut in the southern hemisphere. The 25-year-old Saracens fly-half was in Gregor Townsend's squad for this year's Six Nations, but it was not until Friday's 29-14 summer tour defeat by Fiji that he earned his first cap. Advertisement It could be quickly followed by a second against Samoa at Eden Park in the land of his birth on Friday and, not surprisingly, he has "a fair few people" chasing him for tickets. "I've had a few messages from people I haven't heard from for a while, but I'll hopefully get a good contingent of support there and it'll be cool," Burke said. "It is a weird one. Obviously I was in for the Six Nations but didn't get a crack, so it is almost like this was the way it was meant to be when I get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here." Darcy Graham was sent off after a second yellow card while Ewan Ashman was also sin-binned in Suva and Burke thinks the Scots can perform better against Samoa if they improve their discipline. Advertisement "I think in parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right, but we got our discipline wrong and ended up making a lot more tackles than we needed to," he said. Burke expects "a similar challenge to Fiji" but hopes to spend less time on defence against Samoa. "I think they are going to be a little more structured than Fiji was - Fiji was quite loose and the looser the game got, the better they got," he suggested. "I've got a feeling Samoa are going to kick a little bit more. We know how important this game is and we are pretty focused on getting it right." Advertisement Burke ended the game playing at full-back after Adam Hastings' introduction. "I wasn't expecting that, but I played a little bit of full-back when I was still in New Zealand at Crusaders, so I felt reasonably comfortable there and I enjoyed playing with Adam as well," he added. "I thought it was good when he came on and we probably got our most attacking in that last 10 minutes with ball in hand."
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Burke feels force of destiny in Scotland debut
New Zealand-born Fergus Burke feels like "it was meant to be" after making his Scotland debut in the southern 25-year-old Saracens fly-half was in Gregor Townsend's squad for this year's Six Nations, but it was not until Friday's 29-14 summer tour defeat by Fiji that he earned his first could be quickly followed by a second against Samoa at Eden Park in the land of his birth on Friday and, not surprisingly, he has "a fair few people" chasing him for tickets."I've had a few messages from people I haven't heard from for a while, but I'll hopefully get a good contingent of support there and it'll be cool," Burke said."It is a weird one. Obviously I was in for the Six Nations but didn't get a crack, so it is almost like this was the way it was meant to be when I get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here."Darcy Graham was sent off after a second yellow card while Ewan Ashman was also sin-binned in Suva and Burke thinks the Scots can perform better against Samoa if they improve their discipline."I think in parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right, but we got our discipline wrong and ended up making a lot more tackles than we needed to," he expects "a similar challenge to Fiji" but hopes to spend less time on defence against Samoa."I think they are going to be a little more structured than Fiji was - Fiji was quite loose and the looser the game got, the better they got," he suggested."I've got a feeling Samoa are going to kick a little bit more. We know how important this game is and we are pretty focused on getting it right."Burke ended the game playing at full-back after Adam Hastings' introduction."I wasn't expecting that, but I played a little bit of full-back when I was still in New Zealand at Crusaders, so I felt reasonably comfortable there and I enjoyed playing with Adam as well," he added."I thought it was good when he came on and we probably got our most attacking in that last 10 minutes with ball in hand."
Scotsman
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
'It's a weird one': Scotland's latest cap ready to head home
Burke has been on song - on and off the pitch Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There weren't too many positives to take from Scotland's tour loss to Fiji in Suva but the performance of Fergus Burke at stand-off was certainly one of them. The Saracens 10 found himself making a few more tackles than he had anticipated on his Test debut but he acquitted himself well in what was a relentlessly physical encounter. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He was in good voice too, by all accounts, with a rendition of the Fijian gospel tune 'E Da Sa Qaqa' at the post-match dinner to mark his first cap. Fergus Burke made his full Scotland debut against Fiji. | SNS Group / SRU 'I went for a Fijian song so the Fijian community could all join in and help me out,' he said. 'So I think I did about the first line of the song and then let them take over.' Scotland hope to be back on song on Friday when they take on Samoa in the final match of their tour at Eden Park. It is a venue at which the Scots have never won but one that is familiar to New Zealand-born Burke who will have family and friends supporting him in the stands. Burke, who hails from Gisborne on North Island, around 300 miles south-east of Auckland, qualifies for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born grandfather and now finds himself returning home to make his international breakthrough. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Burke: 'Almost like it was meant to be' 'It's a weird one, it's almost like it was meant to be,' he said. 'I was in the Six Nations squad and didn't get a crack so it was almost like this is where I was meant to get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here and things like that. So it is pretty cool and I'm definitely not taking it for granted and soaking it all up.' Defensively sound, with good hands and an eye for putting players into space, Burke impressed against the Fijians on an afternoon when Scotland were second best. He played in Tom Jordan for the Scots' second try but they were on the backfoot for the most of the game. 'I spent a bit more time on defence than I would have liked, and probably ended up making a few more tackles than I would have liked,' said Burke. 'I probably would have liked to spend a bit more time on attack but I guess that's something we can look forward to this week. Fergus Burke was part of Scotland's Six Nations squad. | SNS Group / SRU 'I think we can expect a similar challenge to Fiji and I think for parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right. But when we get our discipline wrong we end up making a lot more tackles than we need to and we're tiring ourselves out against big sides like Fiji and Samoa. So we need to get the discipline side of our game right and that way we can be a bit better.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Burke has played Super Rugby at Eden Park with Crusaders, scoring a try there against the Blues in 2023, and is looking forward to returning to one the sport's most storied venues.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Super proud' Burke hopes Scots are more in tune against Samoa
Fergus Burke will be hoping his rendition of "Eda Sa Qaqa" proves prophetic as the Saracens fly-half looks to fulfil his "burning desire" to recover from a debut defeat in a Scotland New Zealand-born 25-year-old chose the Fijian song, which translates as "We Have Overcome", as his initiation piece after Friday's 29-14 loss in the South Pacific Friday, he hopes to turn the tables on another rugby nation he knows well, Samoa, as Scotland end their summer tour at Ellis Park in the land of his birth."It was a super proud day for me and my family to get my first international cap for Scotland," he said. "But obviously we didn't get the result we were after, so it was tainted a little bit and it was a weird one - I didn't know how to feel really."Immensely proud but got a bit of a burning desire to get the right result this week."Burke said that, despite the defeat, it "was super special" to live out his childhood "dream", hearing "Flower Of Scotland" before the game and being presented with his first cap by captain Rory Darge."I even had to sing a song in the after-match, which was entertaining," he said."I wasn't expecting it at all. I wasn't given a heads up."Explaining his choice of a hymn particularly associated with the Fijian rugby team, he added: "So I went for a Fijian song so the Fijian community could join in and help me. "I think I did the first line of the song and then let them take over."
