Hugh Burry

Hugh Burry

Full name	Hugh Cameron Burry
Date of birth	(1930-10-29)29 October 1930
Place of birth	Christchurch, New Zealand
Date of death	18 June 2013(2013-06-18) (aged 82)
Place of death	Hanmer Springs, New Zealand
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	90 kg (200 lb)
School	Christ’s College
University	University of Otago
Notable relative(s)	Mark Burry (son)
Occupation(s)	Doctor
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Number 8
New Zealand No.	607
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1955–62	Canterbury	41
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1960	New Zealand Universities  New Zealand	0	(0)

Hugh Cameron Burry (29 October 1930 – 18 June 2013) was a rugby union player from New Zealand.^[1] He was also an accomplished cricketer, and could have played for New Zealand.^[2]

He played 41 times for Canterbury between 1955 and 1962, in the back row. He played for the All Blacks on the 1960 tour of South Africa; despite a groin injury he played 11 games, scoring 8 tries, but played in no tests.^[2][3]

He did not play for the All Blacks until 1960, because of the demands of medical studies and practice. He was a general practitioner in New Brighton, Christchurch from 1957 to 1965, then a medical registrar at Christchurch Hospital. Next he went to London until 1976, working at Guy’s Hospital and lecturing at London University. But he could not get his views on the dangers of scrums and of potentially life-threatening injuries from poor scrum techniques accepted until he published them in the British Medical Journal. Later he was a member of the IRB’s medical advisory committee, and oversaw medical services for the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.^[2]

He was an Associate Professor of Rheumatology at the Wellington Clinical School until 1987, then until he retired in 1991 was Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Melbourne University. He retired to Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury, where he conducted research for the ACC, and was a consultant on rheumatology and rehabilitative medicine until 2000.^[2]

He died in 2013.^[1]

Burry's son Mark is an architect, best known for his role as executive architect and researcher for the Sagrada Família.^[4]

References