The Houston SaberCats re-signed Campbell “CJ” Burke for the remainder of the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 25-year-old tighthead prop is 6’1″ and 260 lbs.
Campbell played for the SaberCats during the 2020 preseason but did not play during the pandemic truncated regular season. He joins the team after playing for the team’s academy side, Rugby HTX.
CJ is from Deer Park, Texas, and attended Deer Park High School.
He attended the United States Naval Academy from 2014-2017 and then served 2 1/2 years in the U.S. Navy before fulfilling his commitment in November 2019. He played for rugby while at the Naval Academy and then for the Norfolk Blues since 2017. He also helped the Norfolk Blues win the 2018 MAC D1 Club Championship.
CJ played representative rugby for the Capital Rugby Union Selects 4/5 times since 2018 and most recently in January against the USA Rugby South Panthers.
Chris Porter was his coach with the Norfolk Blues and with the Capital Selects. He indicated that “he is a strong set-piece prop and enjoys being in there. In the open play, he is very good in contact and wrecks havoc with other sides with his counter rucking. He has good mobility for a player his size.”
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