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Israel Dagg reacts to 'devastating' potential departure of Fergus Burke
The Crusaders are counting down the weeks until their battered and bruised squad can finally field a top-strength XV, but that may be a short-lived luxury.
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RugbyPass reported on Saturday that Fergus Burke was close to signing a deal with English club Saracens who are in the market for a playmaker after Owen Farrell decided to sign with French club Racing 92.
That news quickly reached the ears of former Crusaders fullback and Rugby World Cup winner Israel Dagg, who labelled the potential loss of his hometown team’s premier first five-eighth “devastating”.
“It’s huge, isn’t it? At 24 years of age, only young,” Dagg said on SENZ Breakfast. “He’s going to get a hell of a lot of opportunities and it’s an opportunity for him to go have a crack.
“If you think of what’s next for Fergus in New Zealand, is he going to have an opportunity to play for the All Blacks? Probably not – no disrespect. So, the opportunity lies over there in the north to go build a future and potentially play international rugby.
“We’ve seen a hell of a lot of players here that are on the cusp heading over there; Oli Jager, he’s got Irish roots so he’s gone over and got his opportunity.
“So yeah, it’s devastating for Crusaders fans but it’s sport, it happens.”
Burke has been Richie Mo’unga’s understudy during his Crusaders career and has also featured at fullback during the various absences of Will Jordan.
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With Mo’unga signing in Japan, the loss of the club’s most successful playmaker was mitigated by the presence of a promising youngster with years of growth in the Crusaders system and relationships with his fellow backs.
However, there appears to have been a tug-of-war for Burke’s talents going on behind closed doors. Saracens aren’t the first club to approach the four-time Super Rugby champion, with Scotland and the Glasgow Warriors engaging with Burke as the national team looks to fortify their playmaker stocks for life after Finn Russell.
Burke would still be eligible for Scotland duties if he were to sign with Saracens, but it makes little difference for Crusaders fans eager to cling to the withering positives in their team’s immediate future.
Burke’s current contract with New Zealand Rugby finishes this year.
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Comments on RugbyPass
The first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
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