Colin Bourke
| Date of birth | 15 October 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Napier, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colin Bourke (born 15 October 1984) is a former Japanese rugby union and sevens player.[1] He competed for Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Early life and career
[edit]Bourke was born in Napier, New Zealand, he attended St Patrick's School and then Napier Boys' High School.[2] He participated in athletics, cricket and rugby throughout intermediate and up till sixth form at Napier Boys' High School.[2] He played club rugby for Taradale.[3][2]
He represented the New Zealand Schools in 2002 and played against the Fiji and Australian schools.[4]
Rugby career
[edit]In 2003, he made the New Zealand sevens team and they went on to win the 2004–05 World Sevens Series.[2] He then moved to Mount Maunganui to play for Bay of Plenty for eight seasons.[2] He also played Super Rugby for the Highlanders, and Chiefs.[5][6]
In 2010, he played three games for the New Zealand Māori against the New Zealand Barbarians, Ireland and England.[2][6] He also played for the Barbarians that same year and suffered a serious shoulder injury which saw him miss the entire 2011 Super Rugby season.[7][8]
Bourke moved to Japan in 2012 to play with the Ricoh Black Rams and was naturalized as a citizen in 2018.[9][5] He competed for Japan in the men's sevens tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[2][5]
In 2024, he announced his retirement from rugby after two seasons with Red Hurricanes Osaka in League One’s second division.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Colin Bourke". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hyde, Sahiban (22 July 2021). "Hawke's Bay's Colin Bourke to represent Japan in Olympic 7s". NZ Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Troughton, Jamie. Rugby News magazine (November 2021). Charlotte Smulders Publisher, New Zealand
- ^ The 2003 New Zealand Rugby Almanac (69th Edition). Akers, Clive & Miller, Geoff. Publisher: Hodder Mia Beckett Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.
- ^ a b c McLeod, Alex (23 July 2021). "Ex-Maori ABs star to play for Japan at Olympics following eligibility saga". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Pickering, Mark (8 May 2024). "Tokyo 2020 Olympian Colin Bourke announces retirement". RugbyJP. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Leabourn, Barry (10 November 2010). "Colin Bourke earns Baa Baa stripes". www.sunlive.co.nz. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hinton, Marc (4 November 2011). "Colin Bourke stunned to be cast adrift in NZ". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Colin Bourke". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
External links
[edit]- Colin Raijin Bourke at ItsRugby.co.uk
- Colin Raijin Bourke at Olympedia
   | This Japanese rugby union biography is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1984 births
- Living people
- Male rugby sevens players
- Olympic rugby sevens players for Japan
- Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Rugby union players from Napier, New Zealand
- Naturalized citizens of Japan
- Japanese people of New Zealand descent
- Japanese rugby union players
- New Zealand rugby union players
- Bay of Plenty rugby union players
- Highlanders (rugby union) players
- L'Aquila Rugby players
- Chiefs (Super Rugby) players
- Black Rams Tokyo players
- Rugby union flankers
- NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players
- Naturalised rugby union players
- New Zealand emigrants to Japan
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan
- Expatriate rugby union players in Italy
- Māori All Blacks players
- Japanese rugby union biography stubs