Schalk Burger

Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Snr. (born 6 October 1955) is a South African former rugby union player.

Playing career

Burger was born in Cape Town and received his schooling in Paarl, at Paarl Gimnasium. In 1973 he represented the schools rugby team at the Craven Week tournament. He made his senior provincial debut in 1974 for and in 1975 he enrolled at the University of Stellenbosch for a BCom degree, representing the Maties on the rugby field. Burger made his debut for Western Province in 1977 and after the 1978 season he moved to . During the period 1979 to 1983, Burger played 72 matches for Eastern Province, including 40 as captain. In 1984 he returned to Western Province.

Burger made his test match debut for the Springboks against the visiting England team on 2 June 1984 in Port Elizabeth. In 1986 he played in the four test matches against the New Zealand Cavaliers. Burger was capped 6 times for the Springboks.

Test history No. Opponents Results(SA 1st) Position Points Dates Venue 1. 33–15 Lock2 June 1984Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth 2. England35–9 Lock 9 June 1984 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 3. New Zealand Cavaliers21–15 Lock 10 May 1986 Newlands, Cape Town 4. New Zealand Cavaliers18–19 Lock 17 May 1986 Kings Park, Durban 5. New Zealand Cavaliers33–18 Lock 24 May 1986 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 6. New Zealand Cavaliers24–10 Lock 31 May 1986 Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Personal Burger is the father of Schalk Burger, a former Springbok loose forward and captain.

Accolades Burger was one of the five nominees for 1985 SA Rugby player of the Year award. The other nominees for the award were Jannie Breedt, Gerrie Sonnekus, Danie Gerber and the eventual winner of the award, Naas Botha.