Schalk Burger
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Occupation(s) | Rugby player | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. (born 13 April 1983)
He was a member of the
Early life
Burger is one of a handful of second-generation Springboks. His father, also called
Rugby career
After playing for the Under 21 Springbok side that won the
2004
In 2004, Burger was selected as part of a rejuvenated Springbok squad which, under the guiding hand of new coach Jake White, went on to win the Tri-Nations trophy for the first time since Nick Mallett's team managed the feat in 1998.
To cap off a magnificent year, Burger was also awarded the most prestigious rugby player's award, the
2006
After an indifferent
2007 – Rugby World Cup Champion
Following successful surgery and rehabilitation, Burger returned to the Vodacom Stormers line-up on 13 January 2007, playing 55 minutes as the Stormers lost to the Bulls. Despite the loss, Burger did show flashes of the brilliance that took him to the peak of world rugby in 2004–05. [citation needed] After a shaky start to the 2007 Super 14 season, Burger inspired the Stormers to their first win of the campaign against the Chiefs as the Stormers recorded their first points of the season in a tense 21–16 victory at the Newlands Stadium.
In mid-2007 he was picked in the Springboks squad for the
During the Springboks' first match of the Rugby World Cup against
Burger would return to play a key role in South Africa's World Cup triumph as the Springboks defeated England 15–6 to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for the second time in four attempts.
2008
In March 2008, Burger was banned for openly abusing a touch judge in a Super 14 game for the Stormers against the Sharks in Durban.
2009
Burger was selected for the Springboks' to play the British & Irish Lions, not having played since injuring his calf muscle in April while playing for the Stormers.[9]
During the opening minute of the
2010
Burger was selected for the 2010 Tri Nations series as part of the South African squad to play six matches. The first game was against New Zealand on 10 July 2010 in Auckland. He started that match at blindside Flanker. South Africa lost that match 32–12. But in the second game against New Zealand which South Africa lost 31–17 Burger scored a try. He scored his second and final try of the tournament against New Zealand.
During the
2011 – Rugby World Cup
Burger was selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He played the first game against Wales which South Africa won 17–16. He played all the matches in group D. South Africa were knocked out however in the Quarter Finals against Australia. He was ruled out of South Africa's Summer tour of England with injury. In November at the end-of-year awards ceremony in Johannesburg, Burger was named the SARU's Player of the Year for the second time, becoming the fifth Springbok to win the award more than once.[13]
2012–13
Over the following two seasons, Burger struggled with injury and illness.
During preparations for the 2013 Super Rugby season, Burger pulled up during a running exercise after experiencing spasms in his left calf.[14] A back scan revealed a cyst next to his spinal cord impacting the nerve which influenced the calf muscle's performance, and he underwent an operation to drain the cyst and relieve pressure on the nerve.[14] It was thought at the time that Burger would miss at least the first three weeks of the season.[15]
However, severe complications followed. During the initial operation, Burger contracted a hospital bug,
To give a timeline is quite difficult... I certainly don't want to over-commit. The good news is that I can start to train properly and get the heart-rate up. That, in itself, is exciting news and I look forward to increasing my training schedule over the next few weeks with the help of the strength and conditioning team at WP Rugby. We will then reassess things again in a month's time.[17]
Burger finally returned to action in late September, coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes of the Currie Cup match between Western Province and Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.[18] Although it was not a spectacular comeback, he emerged unscathed as Western Province came from behind to win 29–27.[18] It was Burger's first competitive appearance since injuring his knee 18 months earlier.[18]
2014
On 24 May, during the Stormers' 33–0 win over the Cheetahs, Burger suffered a neck injury. The injury was not serious, but he failed to recover in time for the following match against the Sharks in Durban.[19] On 2 June, it was announced that Burger had signed a two-year contract with
2015 – Rugby World Cup Bronze Medalist
Due to his success in returning to the Springboks after recovering from spinal meningitis, he was awarded the Comeback of the Year Award at the
2016 – Saracens
Burger signed a two-year deal to join
International statistics
Test Match record
Against | P | W | D | L | Tri | Pts | %Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
Australia | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
British and Irish Lions |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
England | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 83.33 |
Fiji | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
France | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
Ireland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 40 |
Italy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Namibia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 100 |
New Zealand | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 15 | 31.25 |
Pacific Islanders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Samoa | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
Scotland | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 100 |
United States |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
Wales | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
Total | 86 | 57 | 1 | 28 | 16 | 80 | 66.86 |
Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored
Test tries (16)
Tries | Opposition | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | Sydney, Australia | Sydney Football Stadium | 2003 Rugby World Cup | 24 October 2003 | Won 46–19 |
1 | Wales | Pretoria, South Africa | Loftus Versfeld |
Test match | 24 June 2004 | Won 53–18 |
1 | Scotland | Durban, South Africa | Kings Park Stadium | Test match | 10 June 2006 | Won 36–16 |
1 | England | Bloemfontein, South Africa | Free State Stadium | Test match | 26 May 2007 | Won 58–10 |
1 | England | Pretoria, South Africa | Loftus Versfeld |
Test match | 2 June 2007 | Won 55–22 |
1 | New Zealand | Durban, South Africa | Kings Park Stadium | 2007 Tri Nations Series | 23 June 2007 | Lost 21–26 |
3 | Namibia | Cape Town, South Africa | Newlands | Test match | 15 August 2007 | Won 105–13 |
1 | United States |
Montpellier, France | Stade de la Mosson | 2007 Rugby World Cup | 30 September 2007 | Won 64–15 |
1 | Ireland | Dublin, Ireland | Croke Park | Test match | 28 November 2009 | Lost 17–31 |
1 | New Zealand | Wellington, New Zealand | Westpac Stadium |
2010 Tri Nations Series | 17 July 2010 | Lost 21–26 |
1 | New Zealand | Johannesburg, South Africa | FNB Stadium | 2010 Tri Nations Series | 21 August 2010 | Lost 22–29 |
1 | England | London, United Kingdom | Twickenham Stadium | Test match | 15 November 2014 | Won 31–28 |
1 | Samoa | Birmingham, United Kingdom | Villa Park | 2015 Rugby World Cup | 26 September 2015 | Won 46–6 |
1 | Scotland | Newcastle, United Kingdom | St James' Park | 2015 Rugby World Cup | 3 October 2015 | Won 34–16 |
Personal life
Burger is the eldest child of Schalk Burger Snr and his wife Myra. He has two younger siblings – brother Tiaan and sister René, who in 2008 gained international attention for speaking out after she was gang-raped.[38] When not playing rugby, Burger lives and works with his family on the Welbedacht Wine Estate near
After dating for six years, Burger was engaged to Michele de Munck, an interior designer from Cape Town.[39] They married at the Welbedacht Estate on 3 December 2011. The couple had their first child, Schalk Jr, in August 2012,[40] and their second son Nicol was born in March 2014.[41]
References
- ^ a b "Springbok rugby player, Schalk Burger is born in Port Elizabeth". South African History Online. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "Most Individual Yellow Cards in Test Rugby". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "Burger blow for the Springboks", Planet-Rugby.com, 19 June 2006.
- ^ a b "Fears for injured Burger's career", BBC, 19 June 2006.
- ^ "Schalk Burger jnr operation successful", South African Rugby Union, 24 June 2006.
- ^ Cain, Nick (29 April 2007). "Player exodus threatens world order". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ "Banned Burger out of England game." BBC News online, Wednesday, 12 September 2007, 05:35 GMT.
- ^ "Burger banned for two weeks – Rugby News, Results, Fixtures and Features from". Planet-Rugby.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Burger back for Boks", Sky Sports, 23 June 2009
- ^ "Bakkies Botha and Schalk Burger Cited", Rugby Breakdown, 28 June 2009
- ^ a b "Burger: I'm not a thug". Sport24. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Burger blow for Springboks". ESPN Scrum. 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Burger scoops Player of the Year honour". ESPN Scrum. 3 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "Schalk Burger blow by blow". Rugby365. 3 June 2013.
- ^ "Burger to miss start of Super Rugby". ESPN Scrum. 19 February 2013.
- ^ "Schalk Burger hospitalised with meningitis". ESPN Scrum. 28 March 2013.
- ^ a b c "Burger back training after overcoming setbacks". ESPN Scrum. 25 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "Schalk Burger returns to rugby". ESPN Scrum. 28 September 2013.
- ^ Wagiet, Rafiq (29 May 2014). "Burger to miss Sharks clash". Eye Witness News.
- ^ "2014年度 サントリーサンゴリアス、新加入外国人選手のお知らせ!" (Press release) (in Japanese). Suntory Sungoliath. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ^ a b "Schalk Burger signs two-year deal in Japan". ESPN Scrum. 2 June 2014.
- ^ "Schalk Burger signs for Japanese team". Eye Witness News. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ^ Said, Nick (31 May 2014). "Veterans back in South Africa squad for Wales, Scotland tours". Reuters.
- ^ "Back from near-death, the incredible Schalk Burger earns comeback of the year". Business Day Live. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ "100-up for 'warrior' Burger". Stormers. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Highlanders 39–21 DHL Stormers". South African Rugby Union. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ^ "ESPN Scrum StatsGuru/Test Matches/Player Records/RWC".
- ^ "Rugby Union | IRB Rugby World Cup | Most matches | ESPN Scrum". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Rugby World Cup 2015 Dream Team". dreamteam.rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Schalk undecided about international future". SuperSport official website. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Burger set to retire from Tests : Planetrugby.com". www.planetrugby.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Habana: 'Schalk Burger is phenomenal'". Sports Mole. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Habana: 'Matfield, Burger greatest ever Springboks'". Sports Mole. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Saracens sign Springbok legend Schalk Burger" (Press release). Saracens. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ "European Champions Cup: Saracens beat Clermont 28-17 to retain European title". BBC. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Leinster 10-20 Saracens: English side win third Champions Cup in Newcastle". BBC. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Burger to quit Saracens, head back to SA".
- ^ Paxinos, Stathi (3 June 2011). "Fighting spirit runs in the Burger family". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "Schalk is engaged". Sport24. 5 December 2010.
- ^ "What's in a name?". Rugby365. 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Schalk Burger has a new son". SA Rugby Mag. 28 March 2014.
External links
- ESPN Scrum Profile
- WP rugby Profile
- "SA Rugby Player Profile – Schalk Burger". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- Itsrugby – Super 14 stats
- Barbarians Profile
- Schalk Burger & Sons Welbedacht Wine Estate
- Laureus Profile