Ex-Maori ABs star to play for Japan at Olympics following eligibility saga
Former Maori All Blacks star Colin Bourke says he is “excited” to represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics next week.
The 36-year-old has been named in Japan’s 12-man squad to compete in the men’s sevens tournament at Tokyo Stadium between Monday and Wednesday.
Bourke’s selection in Chihito Matsui’s squad comes nine years after he moved to Japan to take up a contract with the Ricoh Black Rams in the Top League.
The ex-Highlanders, Chiefs and Bay of Plenty No 8, who began his career as a utility back for Hawke’s Bay, will be tasked with helping guide Japan to a podium finish after they came in fourth place at Rio 2016.
Speaking to NZME, Bourke said he is “so proud” to be representing his adopted nation after first joining the squad in a training capacity three years ago.
“Towards the end of the 2018 season I was approached by the coach of the national 7s team and asked if I would be interested in playing at the 2020 Olympics, which of course at that time was a little over a year and a half away,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today.
“I accepted and began training with the team at the end of 2018 and all the way up until March 2020 when the games were postponed because of COVID-19.
“The squad had a break and I went back to my 15-a-side team to train until we knew what the plan going forward was.
“I re-joined the team again around August 2020 and now here we are. Named in the final 12 members and on my way to the Olympic village as we speak, something I would have never thought in my wildest dreams would happen.”
Bourke’s selection in Japan’s Olympic squad hasn’t come without frustration, though.
After gaining Japanese citizenship in 2018, the veteran loose forward was at the centre of an eligibility saga that came to the fore last year.
Despite being Japanese citizens, Bourke, ex-All Blacks lock Isaac Ross and former Australian sevens representative Brackin Karauria-Henry, were all deemed ineligible to compete as Japanese players in the Top League due to their previous experience in international rugby.
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As a result, all three struggled to attract the interest of Japanese clubs as counted against the foreign quota of two internationally-capped players, three foreign-born players who are eligible to play for Japan and one Asian passport holder.
Bourke, Ross and Karauria-Henry expressed concerns over the rule to RugbyPass last September, with Bourke saying he was “pissed off” that he was considered Japanese enough to play sevens for the country but not to be viewed as a local player in the Top League.
“I’m a bit pissed off the same group of people, they want me to play for them at the Olympics, and they want to pay me money to do so, but they won’t let me play for my club team as a Japanese player, which is where we earn our money,” Bourke told RugbyPass.
“We don’t get paid to play for Japan. It actually costs us a lot of money with transport and all that sort of s***. It’s a bit of a double standard. We’re trying to get their heads around how we see it as well, which is proving difficult.”
The Japanese Rugby Football Union opted against changing the rule last year, but Bourke has remained at the Black Rams, who have rebranded to Black Rams Tokyo as part of the revamped Japan Rugby League One competition.
Now at the Olympics, alongside Karauria-Henry, Bourke is “excited” to take to the field over the coming days.
I’m so proud to be a part of this huge sporting event and represent Japan,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today.
“My road hasn’t been the normal road travelled for an Olympic athlete but that’s what makes it so much more pleasing to have made it here.
“It’s been a hard two to three years, especially through this pandemic, but [I’m] stoked to finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Japan have been grouped in Pool B alongside Great Britain, Canada and reigning Olympic champions Fiji, who they will begin their campaign against at 9am on Monday local time.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments