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
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments