Mike Burak
Canadian rugby union player
Michael Burak (born October 9, 1980, in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian former international rugby union footballer. He won 29 caps for Canada between 2004 and 2009.
Early career
Originally a standout basketball player at Lord Byng Secondary School in Vancouver, Burak played for two seasons at the University of British Columbia. After being cut from the men's varsity basketball squad in the 2000-2001 preseason, Burak switched to the UBC men's varsity rugby program, under head coach Spence McTavish. McTavish had coached Burak for the Lord Byng rugby team.
Burak quickly became a regular for the varsity XV, despite not having played rugby since his high school days. In 2002–03, Burak was part of a powerful UBC XV that went undefeated in league play on the way to the provincial first division title. The team also featured future Canadian internationals Chris Pack, Ryan McWhinney and Eric Wilson.
Travel to Australia and professional rugby
After graduation in 2003, he travelled to Australia to watch the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Determined to make the Canadian team, Burak returned to Vancouver after the world cup and played for the UBC Old Boys Ravens; the premier XV lost in the provincial final to Capilano RFC. The following summer he made his debut for Canada at the 2004 Churchill Cup.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3308068. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 2004, 2009 and 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mike Burak” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.