Why Gregor Townsend feels Fergus Burke 'is up there with the best 10s'

With the big cats away with the Lions, some of Scotland’s lesser lights have been handed the chance to prove they are also Test-match animals on their current tour.

Nowhere more so than at half-back, where the absence of Finn Russell – cementing his status as the likely Lions Test fly-half – and Ben White, preparing for a first Lions start on Saturday after his call-up to replace the injured Tomos Williams, has left big boots to fill.

Adam Hastings (32 caps) and George Horne (36) are by far the most experienced remaining options available to Gregor Townsend, and both showed up well in last weekend’s encouraging victory in a non-cap match against the New Zealand Maori.

But for this Saturday’s hazardous looking Test against Fiji in Suva, a game which takes on added importance for world ranking points ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw later this year, the head coach has changed tack.

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Fiji

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Fergus Burke, the New Zealand-born fly-half, is handed his Test debut, having enjoyed a first run-out in a Scotland shirt as a final-quarter replacement against the Maori, while Glasgow’s Jamie Dobie starts a Test at scrum-half for the first time.

The Saracens No.10 was called up for Townsend’s Six Nations squad earlier this year, but did not make a match-day 23, with Tom Jordan providing cover for Russell.

Jordan was also in the mix to start at fly-half this week but will remain in the 12 jersey he occupied for the last four games of the Six Nations, with Burke given the keys to No.10.

“Fergus has been in really good form and has impressed us at training,” Townsend explained. “I think the most important element is how physical he’s been, both with carrying the ball, but in particular his defence. He’s been excellent this year for Saracens, and he’s shown that on tour.

“We’re going to need our backs to defend really well on Saturday. His game management, his game understanding, is up there with the best 10s. He knows why you play a certain shape, why you might play a certain tactic against a different opposition, and he’s got the technical skills to execute that. He’s been a joy to work with.”

Similarly, Dobie’s defensive ability, as much his attacking instincts with ball in hand, appear to have given him the nod at nine over his Warriors team-mate Horne, who like Hastings will be on the bench in Suva.

Dobie, 24, featured in 18 games for Glasgow this season, starting six games at scrum-half, six on the wing, and coming off the bench three times in both positions.

That versatility has made him a prized option when Scotland have opted for a six-two bench split, as they did against South Africa last autumn, and against Ireland, England and France in the Six Nations.

Dobie’s two previous Test starts were on the right wing, against Canada and Chile last summer, but all but one of his 10 caps as a replacement have seen him come on in his favoured scrum-half role.

“Jamie’s really progressed this year,” Townsend said. “Before he was playing a lot on the wing, but he’s got more opportunities at nine and he was excellent off the bench at the Stade de France. He’s really grown in his running game because he’s a massive threat with his ability to find space, to be strong in the tackle and that’s what we’re encouraging from him.

“His basics have improved too, his passing and kicking are getting better and better, and his biggest attribute is his defence. He’s probably up there with Rory Darge in terms of being our best tackler in the team.

“He’s outstanding and as with Fergus, our backs are going to have to make some big tackles this week, so to have Jamie and Fergus there, really good defensive half-backs, that gives the team an added edge.”

The attacking threat facing Scotland was certainly evident in the way the Fijians gave Australia a major fright in Newcastle last weekend, scoring one sublime counter-attacking try and having another controversially disallowed.

“They didn’t kick very much and were getting a lot of rewards by moving the ball, by carrying hard and that is probably their biggest strength, so we know if that’s coming, we have to match that and make sure they don’t go through big phases like they did against the Wallabies,” Townsend noted.

While containing the dangerous Pacific Islanders is clearly a priority, if a beefed-up pack bolstered by a clutch of experienced hands – but also including lock Marshall Sykes making his first Test start and tighthead Elliot Millar-Mills only his second – can supply enough ball, Scotland’s backline also has a potent look to it, despite their missing Lions.

Wings Darcy Graham and Kyle Steyn – returning for the first time since last summer’s tour – offer plenty of menace, while the versatile Kyle Rowe gets the chance to show off his attacking skills from full-back.

“He’s always someone that at the end of a training session your eyes get drawn to him in the review,” Townsend added. “At the time when you’re coaching you think, ‘Is that Kyle again? What a class line he ran’ or showed a really good pair of hands.

“He just does the right thing consistently well and he’s got the skill to make that right thing into a try for him or a try assist.

“At full-back I think he probably gets more opportunities to be creative and put other people into space but we also know as a winger he’s a really good finisher, one of the best in the game, so to have that dual threat is excellent and he’s growing his high ball catching, him and all of our wingers.

“I know him and Kyle Steyn at Glasgow have really been pushing each other on to dominate in the air, which is a massively important part of the game now with the law changes that happened early in the season.

“The back three we have this week are class and have played a lot of top games for us and they’re fired up and ready to go this weekend.”