The Rugby Championship: Springboks – Schalla named captain against All Blacks

Published 21 July 2015 | By grootblousmile

Schalk Burger vs World XV

Experienced loose forward Schalk Burger will become the 55th Springbok captain on Saturday when he leads South Africa out against New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.

The 32-year-old Burger has been named interim captain, in the absence of the injured Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield. He assumes the captaincy from Matfield, who was ruled out of action in the short term after suffering a hamstring strain against Australia’s Wallabies on Saturday.

“Schalk has been a magnificent servant of Springbok rugby and he fully deserves this responsibility,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Tuesday.

“The resilience he’s shown in coming back from serious injury and illness is the kind of qualities I look for in players as well as teams I coach.

“In my eyes, the captaincy is very important and something I never take lightly or want to cheapen. Schalk’s character and the fact that he has been a role model for so many through the years made this an easy decision.

“He’s always led through example and has distinguished himself as one of the best leaders in South African rugby in the last decade. I’m very excited to see what he can bring in the absence of Jean and Victor.”

Burger has captained the DHL Stormers and DHL Western Province with distinction and will become the 10th most-capped Springbok on Saturday, winning his 77th cap, moving level with lock forward Mark Andrews.

He overcame serious injury and illness in 2014 to fight his way back into Springbok contention, recapturing the form that made him one of the most highly regarded loose forwards in world rugby.

He was named World Rugby Player of the Year (2004) and has twice been named the SA Rugby Player of the Year, in 2004 and 2011. He was a member of Rugby World Cup winning Springbok side in 2007 and played in the South African team that won the Under 21 World Cup in 2002.

His father, Schalk (Snr), played 6 Tests for South Africa between 1984 and 1986.

Burger, who made his Test debut at the Rugby World Cup in 2003, said he was humbled by the decision to name him captain.

“I’m a very proud man today, but at the same time I’m humbled by the faith the coach has shown in me,” said Burger, who also has 108 Vodacom Super Rugby caps for the DHL Stormers to his name.

“Ever since I first put on the Springbok jersey, my dream has been to represent my country with distinction and to make South Africans proud. It’s still sinking in that I will actually captain the Boks.

“This is an honour that is bestowed upon only a select few people and I will do whatever is needed for the team. With this position comes massive responsibility and I’m very excited for Saturday.”

Fact file:

Full name: Schalk Willem Petrus Burger
Date and place of birth: 13 April 1983, Port Elizabeth
Height and weight: 1.93m and 110kg
Springbok number: 754
Test debut: 24 September, 2003 vs Georgia in Sydney
Total Tests: 76
Test tries: 14 (12 as flanker, which is a Springbok record)

14 Responses to The Rugby Championship: Springboks – Schalla named captain against All Blacks

1

grootblousmile on 21 July 2015 at 7:27 pm

Congrats Schalla… a deserving man and one of our Springbok legends!
2

BrumbiesBoy on 21 July 2015 at 7:31 pm

Well done Schalk and indeed an extra bonus given the opponents.

I have my ticket for Saturday buried in a safe place (not in one of a SA Bank’s deed boxes!) but just hope I can shake off this blerrie flu before Saturday.
3

Stormersboy on 21 July 2015 at 8:58 pm

For some reason or other I was under the impression that he had captained SA before?
4

grootblousmile on 21 July 2015 at 9:03 pm

3 @ Stormersboy:
For some reason or other… you were mistaken…. hehehehe
5

Stormersboy on 21 July 2015 at 9:04 pm

@ grootblousmile:
Seems so….

For some reason or other….. 🙂
6

grootblousmile on 21 July 2015 at 9:20 pm

Interesting that Schalla will only be the 55th Springbok Test captain… just shows the longevity of Springbok captains over the years.

Also shows the true honour to be appointed captain.
7

Jinx on 22 July 2015 at 12:40 am

I think a whole lot of Kiwis just got stomach flu, when hearing the news.
8

Lion4ever on 22 July 2015 at 10:27 am

Congratulations Schalla. Probably our best candidate for captaincy considering his experience and having captained the Stormers previously. But, I would play him at 7 with WW at 8. But I have read that Heinrich Brussow may get the nod in place of Marcel.
9

Lion4ever on 22 July 2015 at 11:10 am

Springbok team to face the all blacks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Schalk Burger (c), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Heinrich Brüssow, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Cornal Hendricks.

Now I can wear my Green and Gold on to the park Saturday, no need to wear black to mourn the demise of common sense.
10

BrumbiesBoy on 22 July 2015 at 12:08 pm

Stormersboy wrote:

For some reason or other I was under the impression that he had captained SA before?

but so did I

For some reason or other
11

grootblousmile on 22 July 2015 at 12:16 pm

9 @ Lion4ever:
That is not the correct team Lion4ever!!

Here is the team named for Saturday (Test Caps & Test Points Scored in Brackets):

15 Willie le Roux – Toyota Cheetahs (26, 35)
14 JP Pietersen – Cell C Sharks (60, 90)
13 Jesse Kriel – Vodacom Bulls (1, 5)
12 Damian de Allende – DHL Stormers (4, 0)
11 Bryan Habana – Toulon (107, 285)
10 Handré Pollard – Vodacom Bulls (10, 75)
9 Ruan Pienaar (Vice-captain) – Ulster (81, 135)
8 Schalk Burger (Captain) – DHL Stormers (76, 70)
7 Francois Louw – Bath (35, 25)
6 Heinrich Brüssow – Toyota Cheetahs (20, 5)
5 Lood de Jager – Toyota Cheetahs (10, 10)
4 Eben Etzebeth – DHL Stormers (34, 5)
3 Jannie du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (63, 5)
2 Bismarck du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (71, 45)
1 Tendai Mtawarira – Cell C Sharks (65, 10)

Replacements:

16 Adriaan Strauss – Vodacom Bulls (45, 25)
17 Trevor Nyakane – Vodacom Bulls (12,, 5)
18 Vincent Koch – DHL Stormers (0, 0)
19 Flip van der Merwe – Vodacom Bulls (35, 5)
20 Warren Whiteley – Emirates Lions (2, 0)
21 Cobus Reinach – Cell C Sharks (7, 10)
22 Pat Lambie – Cell C Sharks (41, 106)
23 Cornal Hendricks – Toyota Cheetahs (11, 25)
12

MacroPolo on 22 July 2015 at 1:07 pm

@ grootblousmile:
Farking Stupid, So we are selecting the entire team that had to travel… back except for Brussouw!
13

Lion4ever on 22 July 2015 at 2:33 pm

@ grootblousmile:
My bad. The corrected team was published a few minutes after I received this.
14

grootblousmile on 22 July 2015 at 2:38 pm

13 @ Lion4ever:
No problem!

Hehehehe, where did you get the wrong team sheet from?