Townsend needs to pull out all the stops to snare Burke
LET’S hope coach Gregor Townsend manages to convince New Zealander Fergus Burke to play for Scotland rather than England as he is the natural successor to Finn Russell.
His name may not be on the radar of lots of Scotland fans, but the 24- year- old fly- half is potentially world class and badly needed by the national team.
The former New Zealand Under- 20 player, who has played 33 times for Crusaders, is a hot property and has joined Saracens on a three- year- deal as a replacement for Owen Farrell who has signed for Racing 92.
Former All Black 2011 World Cup winner and former Crusaders full- back Israel Dagg said losing Burke from New Zealand rugby was “devastating”.
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson had him down as a future All Black but Burke’s decision to chase the big money by signing for Saracens has put paid to that happening as he will not give a debut to someone not playing in his homeland.
The big question left for Burke to answer is who does he play for at international level?
He qualifies for Scotland and England through his grandparents. Scottish Rugby officials were off the mark first and started talking to Burke last October to try to convince him to sign for Glasgow Warriors. They also guaranteed he would be fast- tracked into the Scotland squad for the summer tour matches against USA, Canada, Chile and Uruguay if he could get out of his Crusaders contract early.
Talks were progressing well until Farrell announced in January he was leaving Saracens. The English club were looking for a replacement and came up with a more lucrative offer than Scottish Rugby with Burke agreeing to it 10 days ago.
It would be sad, but a real possibility, that the national side he picks to play for could come down to money. English players get £ 23,500 plus win bonuses per game for playing for their country. Scotland players – although it has never been confirmed by Scottish Rugby – get around half that for turning out for their country.
All is not lost because Burke, who has missed the last few months with an Achilles injury, has not shut the door totally on Scotland. He knows he would get many more caps with Scotland than with England.
He would be guaranteed regular and immediate Test match rugby as understudy to Russell and when the 31- year- old calls it a day he will be ready to be his successor.
If he goes down the England route he will have to wait his turn as Steve Borthwick has Marcus Smith, 24, Finn Smith, 21, and at the other end of the age scale, 30- year- old George Ford is still around.
Some may question my concern over what happens if Scotland lose out on Burke. Watching Russell being forced off early with a groin injury when Bath lost to Exeter in the European Champions Cup brought it home to me that Scotland are just one bad injury away from losing one of the greatest players of his generation.
There are other options at 10 for Scotland with Adam Hastings, 27, who signed for Glasgow Warriors from Gloucester after their attempt to get Burke failed, the best of the rest.
Townsend clearly doesn’t agree because he took Ben Healy to the World Cup along with Russell and left Hastings at home. He was recalled for the Six Nations as third choice 10 but was forced to pull out ahead of the tournament with a knee injury.
Healy, 24, hasn’t kicked on much since he joined Edinburgh last summer and that is a worry for the national side. He is the type of fly- half the word “solid” fits perfectly.
The third cab who can’t leave the rank just yet is New Zealander Tom Jordan, 25, of Glasgow Warriors who qualifies through residency in November. He has been keeping Ross Thompson and Duncan Weir out of the Glasgow team.
It will be impossible to replace Russell as he is a one- off, but Burke is someone who can give Scotland a point of difference while the other three are not game changers.
Crusaders head coach Rob Penny is hugely disappointed Burke is leaving as he had earmarked him as the successor at 10 to All Black legend Richie Mo’unga who has moved to Japan.
Burke knows he will be playing for Saracens next season – where Scotland internationals Sean Maitland and Andy Christie are still on the books – so the only decision he has to reach is where his international allegiance lies.
Scotland leave for the first match of their summer tour against Canada in the first week of July. It would be great if Burke has given a promise to play for Scotland by then.