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FORUM / RUGBY /  Schalk off to Japan

Schalk off to Japan

Started by Beeno111 REPLIES163 VIEWS· 02 Jun 2014, 11:12
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Beeno1
Captain40,032 posts
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Beeno1Captain40,032 posts
02 Jun 2014, 11:12
#1
02 Jun 2014, 11:12#1

We wish the great man well and hope he enjoys his stay in Japan. 

Springbok and Stormers stalwart Schalk Burger will soon be leaving these shores to join Japanese club Suntory Goliath.

Doing so fulfils one of his career ambitions of playing overseas and enjoying a different culture and rugby experience. The two-year deal starts in August.

He says he was drawn to Suntory because of their reputation and glowing reports from Suntory players, among them Springbok teammate Fourie du Preez.

“Rugby offers great opportunities to travel and expand your horizons,” said the IRB’s 2004 Player of the Year who has played 68 times for South Africa’s Springboks. “Japan ticks all the boxes: it will be hosting the World Cup in 2019, it has an ambitious rugby programme and it’s an exotic location that will take me out of my comfort zone.

”I’m looking forward to the change and I’m also looking forward to learning new things. I will have my family along too, which will make the transition a lot easier.”

Suntory is one of Japan’s glamour clubs. National coach Eddie Jones used to coach the first XV while others who have worn the black and yellow colours include George Smith, George Gregan and Todd Clever.

Burger won’t be entirely lost to SA rugby as his contract allows for him to turn out for the Stormers during the Super Rugby season.


I take it he will be avaialble for the Boks as well.


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clevermike
Coach57,555 posts
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clevermikeCoach57,555 posts
02 Jun 2014, 14:04
#2
02 Jun 2014, 14:04#2
 Beeeno
I think it is wise of Burger to go to Japan to play softer rugby before his final retirement.  He will not last through a Super 15 season without constant injuries and that would not eb a real option for him at his age.  I think he realises it and I also think his injury siotuation would not make him a regular in the Springbok squad.  Sad to see that he is going - but it is in his own interest to keep in the ahrd Super 125 competition.    
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Beeno1
Captain40,032 posts
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Beeno1Captain40,032 posts
02 Jun 2014, 16:55
#3
02 Jun 2014, 16:55#3
 Mike he is available for the Stormers in the Super 15. I guess for the Boks as well.
CL
clevermike
Coach57,555 posts
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clevermikeCoach57,555 posts
02 Jun 2014, 16:58
#4
02 Jun 2014, 16:58#4
 Beeno
Whether he is available means nothing - he is far too injury prone since his return after three years to be a realistic option.  
MD
Monkey D Luffy
Pro6,277 posts
MD
Monkey D LuffyPro6,277 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:08
#5
02 Jun 2014, 18:08#5
wish cheese burger all the best,

i wonder what this means for the Boks though, he wont be available for the RC/4nats now i dont think, and i would have thought a saffa warrior as competitive as him would have wanted another crack at the top dogs of world rugby the wallys and mighty All Blacks,

@mikey,
the top league is perfect for burger and his current injury issues, the japanese IMO dont work their players to the bone the way they do in france and the UK.

jerome kaino was having a ton of injury problems before he left for japan, and he looks both fresher and younger and playing some of the best rugby of his life, which is scary for everything non kiwi, cos he was already one of the best when he left.

no reason why burger cant do the same, but i would cut burgers stint with the stormers to zero.
focus on the june and EOYT tests, the japanese league and make the RWC his swansong.

one thing that has surprised me with the japanese league is the number of players who play there and say the speed is pretty similar to the spXV, the physicality isnt.
this will be a big help for burger and the transition into the Boks team.

japanese league might have been a better option for goosen too considering how prone he is to injury.
sharkbok
sharkbok
Captain23,295 posts
sharkbok
sharkbokCaptain23,295 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:21
#6
02 Jun 2014, 18:21#6
 Goosen should have signed in Japan, although with more and more players going to Japan it will probably become more physical. Fourie Dupreez said that Japan is ever faster than the SuperXV
sharkbok
sharkbok
Captain23,295 posts
sharkbok
sharkbokCaptain23,295 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:21
#7
02 Jun 2014, 18:21#7
 Goosen should have signed in Japan, although with more and more players going to Japan it will probably become more physical. Fourie Dupreez said that Japan is ever faster than the SuperXV
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Beeno1
Captain40,032 posts
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Beeno1Captain40,032 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:21
#8
02 Jun 2014, 18:21#8
Can' t see it doing Burger any harm. He has had a good rest and some lessphysical but fast rugby is just what the doctor ordered.Yes swansong will be with Boks winning the world cup for a record third time!!!!

MD
Monkey D Luffy
Pro6,277 posts
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Monkey D LuffyPro6,277 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:28
#9
02 Jun 2014, 18:28#9
@parttime sharkbok,

"Goosen should have signed in Japan, although with more and more players going to Japan it will probably become more physical"
thats a very good point,  but i dont think its there yet, so it would have been smarter for goosen to go there now.

"Fourie Dupreez said that Japan is ever faster than the SuperXV"
LMAO!!! thats classic,

no surprises to see du preez saying that, if 2013 was anything to go by, then currie cup and ITM would be too fast for him.

none of the kiwi and aussie players said the japanese league was faster, it was as fast was the most they said,
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Beeno1
Captain40,032 posts
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Beeno1Captain40,032 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:36
#10
02 Jun 2014, 18:36#10
Goosen will learn a thing or two in France about flyhalf paly.However oaKs we are here discussing the great Schalk Bruger not wee Goosen!
THIS THEN IS THE STORY:
First of all, I think everybody would agree with me when I say that Schalk Burger has been one of WP Rugby’s most loyal sons of the modern professional rugby era,” WPRFU President Thelo Wakefield said on the Stormers' official website.

“Schalk has put his body on the line for Western Province and the Stormers since 2003. He has never had a professional rugby contract anywhere else, so he goes on this adventure (to Japan) with our blessing.

“We wish him, his wife Michele and their sons the best of luck, but we also look forward to welcoming them back next year,” added Wakefield.

Burger will link up with his new club in August and will thus not feature for Western Province in the 2014 Currie Cup, but he will return to Cape Town for the 2015 Super Rugby season.

“Although Schalk will be a massive loss for Western Province during the 2014 Currie Cup, he will once again be available for the Stormers in the 2015 Super Rugby competition and, of course, the Springboks in the lead-up to the next year’s Rugby World Cup," added Wakefield.

“Schalk will be missed during the period of August and October, but we look forward to seeing him back in Cape Town in 2015, refreshed and recharged and ready to once again contribute to the Stormers with his usual gusto.”

Thirty-one-year-old Burger played his first senior match for WP in 2003 (against Eastern Province), boasting a total of 37 caps for WP. He has also played 95 matches for the Stormers since his Super Rugby debut against the Waratahs in 2004.

The most-capped Springbok flank of all time, Burger has 68 Springbok caps to his name and was part of the Tri-Nations winning teams of 2004 and 2009, as well as playing a pivotal role in South Africa’s 2007 Rugby World Cup triumph.

Burger was voted the IRB World Player of the Year in 2004 and the SA Rugby Player of the Year in 2004 and 2011.

One of the great Springboks of all time with few distputing this. In fact you would wonder what sort of oak would dispute that - well there is such a one. Yes you guessed it - rooitwit.  Give the oak a hand! 
MD
Monkey D Luffy
Pro6,277 posts
MD
Monkey D LuffyPro6,277 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:46
#11
02 Jun 2014, 18:46#11
burgers old man was monster like schalks, i wonder if schalks boys are the same???

would be pretty awesome if they were to become future Boks, 3rd generation Boks sounds pretty cool,
BE
Beeno1
Captain40,032 posts
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Beeno1Captain40,032 posts
02 Jun 2014, 18:51
#12
02 Jun 2014, 18:51#12
 Schalk has two boys. My wife met him at the hospital. Says he is a really decent cheerful down to earth guy and so is his wife. No airs about who he is etc. HOPE YOU CAN HELP US WIN 4 NATIONS. Your work rate far far exceeds Alberts.
— END OF THREAD —

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