Murrayfield debutant savours Scotland moment but accepts tough Finn Russell job on his hands

“Amazing,” smiled Burke. “First taste, first time coming in on the bus. It was like nothing I've ever seen at Murrayfield before. It was a bit of a pinch-me moment and one I'll remember forever.”

Born in New Zealand, Burke pledged his allegiances to Scotland for the Six Nations campaign earlier this year and despite being called up, he never featured. His debut came in the Pacific Islands tour against Fiji in the summer before a run-out against Samoa. As the fly-half noted, he is being used for the southern hemisphere teams.

With his partner and sister in attendance, Burke played well against the Tongans and was flawless from the boot. Tougher assignments will come for him and his Scotland teammates but the Saracens man headed back down to England more than content with his afternoon’s work.

Burke believes exposure to international rugby has helped his development. “I think a lot,” he noted. “I debuted in the summer in July, and it is a different kettle of fish [to club rugby]. I've played three Pacific Island teams so far, so they've all been physical, which has been good. I love this environment, I love coming out to Scotland and being part of it, so it's been cool.”

It was seen as a coup for Scottish rugby to snare Burke given he was also being courted by England. However, he is grounded enough to know that starts will be hard to come by while the talismanic Finn Russell continues to pull the strings at 10.

Lots of respect for Russell

“You want to be playing but I have full respect for the players that are in front of me,” said Burke. “I just tried to train hard and wait for my opportunity and I got it.

“I think we're all just competing. Obviously Finn's one of the best in the world at the moment, so it's always good to have someone like that to chase and learn off I guess.

“I've got full respect for Finn and where he is in his career and how he's been playing in the last few years, so I think I'd be stupid to think that I'm going to come in and steal his jersey. But the more I can put my hand up for other roles and for opportunities like this the better. That's what I'm chasing.”

He will get another chance to rub shoulders with Russell this weekend - albeit as foes rather than friends. Bath visit the StoneX Stadium on Sunday to take on Sarries.

“It'll be nice to see Finn,” smiled Burke. “I enjoy playing against him. The last time we played against him, they got us goodies over Christmas, so we're looking forward to getting him back!”

Burke has his own mentor at Saracens with the return of Owen Farrell. “Faz has been awesome for me at Saracens,” added Burke. “He's got an unbelievable rugby brain and to have him at 12 and being out in the middle with him has been cool as well. I'm learning a lot from him.”