BIONIC BURGER
Namibia’s captain has had so many ops, he carries the plates and screws in his kit bag!
If England or South Africa had come calling, would Jacques Burger have done things differently? ‘You have to follow your heart,’ says the Namibia captain, who could have worn the Red Rose or Springbok jersey. ‘My heart told me to represent my family, my childhood and my people.’
Aside from his inclusion in the 2011 team of the tournament, Burger’s World Cup record does not make pretty reading: eight games, eight defeats, 74 points scored, 478 points conceded.
He opted not to chase trophies with the power nations, instead chasing a single victory with the African minnows.
This tournament is Burger’s final chance to pick up that elusive win, with his kamikaze approach to tackling forcing him to retire at the end of the season aged just 32 as his bionic body finally gives up.
Burger has had 60 injuries in the last two years and many of them were highlighted with body paint ( see right) as the Saracens wrecking ball posed in front of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
‘I’ve had six surgeries on my right knee, two on my right shoulder, two on my cheekbones and a broken hand,’ says Burger.
‘I’ve had all the screws and plates taken out now, but I carry them with me in my kit bag as a reminder. People said I wouldn’t even make it to this World Cup, but I’ve proved them wrong.
‘There are times when I worry about the future. I have two small kids and I would like to be actively involved in their lives. But when I play I forget about safety and the future, which is probably why I’m in this situation. I would play for 50 more years if I could, but I can’t.’
The back-row regrets not looking after his joints, but he does not regret the path he has chosen — ignoring the increasingly common practice of representing major nations through the three-year residency rule.
‘When I made my debut for Namibia in 2004, I knew the repercussions,’ says Burger. ‘I think about it sometimes, because it frustrates me that we have never performed well, but anything else just wouldn’t feel right.
‘England is my second home but Namibia is the place where I first picked up a rugby ball. That’s why I am here now, so I owe them for that — if I could do it all again I wouldn’t change a huge amount.’
Sadly Burger hasn’t managed to turn Namibia into a side capable of competing with the top-five nations and thoughts of beating the All Blacks tonight are sadly mere fantasy. But having seen Japan shock South Africa, Burger is hoping Namibia draw inspiration from the Cherry Blossoms, who count his former Saracens team- mate Steve Borthwick among their coaching staff.
‘Japan played like guys who believed they could win,’ says Burger. ‘for smaller nations like us, there are massive lessons to take from that.
‘We’re the lowest-ranked team in the tournament and New Zealand the best, the scoreline is irrelevant, but we can set ourselves small targets — line-breaks, mauls or a 10-minute spell of defence — to give us heart against Tonga and Georgia because they are the teams we can target.
‘We’ve got guys from construction companies, engineers and dentists,’ says Burger. ‘They have to fit in rugby around their jobs and it’s not easy. I had to do the same when I left school — balancing training with a job selling ink cartridges for printers for two years. It’s going to be tough, but we will fight like dogs.’ the game against Argentina goes. ‘The group going out on Thursday have to change that line to a higher performance level. It does not matter who we are playing. ‘We can’t just assume that Namibia will lie down because they won’t. They will be proud men and will come out and give it everything they have got. ‘We will give Namibia total respect because that’s what they deserve as another playing nation. Rugby is a funny thing and sport is a funny thing. If you don’t prepare properly you can get a hiding.’ Hansen identified flanker Jacques Burger as a key player for Namibia. ‘He is a pretty special player,’ said Hansen. ‘He is totally committed. If you are going to be in his part of the park and you are carrying the ball then you’d better be ready to get smashed.’