Schalk Burger

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Schalk Burger
Full name Schalk Burger Jr.
Date of birth 1983-04-13
Place of birth Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Height 1.93 m
Weight 110 kg
Rugby union career
Position Flanker
Provincial/State sides Caps (points)
2004-06 Western Province 21 30
correct as of 9 September 2006.
Super Rugby    
2004-06 Stormers 15 10
correct as of 9 September 2006.
National team(s)    
2003-06 South Africa 25 (10)
correct as of 1 Sept 2006.
Other Information
School  attended Paarl Gimnasium

Schalk "Schalla" Burger Jr. (born April 13, 1983, Port Elizabeth) is a promising young South African rugby union player. He plays the position of flanker in the Springbok rugby union team. He is a big man, weighing in at 110kg and standing 193cm tall (6'4", 235 lb).

His father, also called Schalk Burger, was an international lock, being capped for South Africa during the "isolation years" of the 1980s. Schalk was schooled at Paarl Gimnasium, and enjoyed success in many sports, not least of all cricket. Even his father claims he expected Schalk would follow a career in professional cricket and not rugby union. Burger has been capped 27 times to date by the South African Springboks.

After playing for the U21 Springbok side that won the U21 Rugby World Cup in 2002 and then captaining it in 2003, Schalk was selected for the professional Springbok squad. He made his debut against Georgia in 2003 at the Rugby World Cup and has since carved out a name as one of the best flankers in the world with big performances in the Super 12, Tri-Nations and Currie Cup. Burger plays for the Vodacom Stormers and Investec Western Province Rugby Union.

In 2004 Burger was selected as part of a rejuvenated Springbok squad, who under the guiding hand of new coach Jake White went on to win the Tri-Nations trophy for the first time since Nick Mallet's team managed the feat in 1998. He was also awarded the most coveted rugby player's award, the IRB's Player of the Year award in the 2004 season. In addition, he claimed the 2004 Absa SA Rugby Player of the Year award.

Due to his massive strength, size, workrate and enthusiasm, Schalk Burger has risen to prominence in modern forward play. His versatility is a great asset, being able to disrupt and turnover opposition ball at the breakdown, effectively compete in the lineouts, carry the ball strongly and defend very well. In addition, his fitness is remarkable: Schalk is rarely rested throughout the Stormers' Super 12/14 campaigns, South African test matches or the Currie Cup, while playing a major role in forward play and seldom substituted before the final whistle. Despite these strengths, Schalk Burger does have a problem on field with accruing yellow cards and penalties frequently, a problem common to many - if not all - 'fetcher' flankers in world rugby.

After an indifferent 2006 Super 14 season, during which Burger showed only flashes of the brilliance that took him to the peak of world rugby, Burger was to once again start in his favoured number 7 position (openside flank) for the national team for the upcoming expanded Tri-Nations test series against Australia and New Zealand. However, in the Springboks' June 17 Test against Scotland, he suffered a neck injury. The following day, it was confirmed that he would require cervical fusion surgery and would be out of action for at least the remainder of 2006.[1] The injury and the required surgery are serious enough that White told media, "I don't want to jump to conclusions - but there is a chance he may never play again."[2] Burger's father told a Cape Town radio program that the injury was between his sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, adding, "Although the operation is difficult the fact that the injury is lower down his neck is good for a future prognosis of making a full recovery."[2] The South African Rugby Union released a statement on 24 June, the date of the surgery, indicating that the surgery was successful and that Burger would undergo six to eight months of rehabilitation with plans to return him to the game.[3]

Following Surgery, Burger returned to the Vodacom Stormers line-up on January 13th 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. 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.


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Preceded by
Jonny Wilkinson		 IRB International Player of the Year
2004		 Succeeded by
Daniel Carter
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