Saracens
JACQUES - BURGER KING
By Darraghgirl
June 3 2016
On 1st May 2016 Jacques Burger ran out on to the pitch at Allianz Park for the last time with his son in his arms and his daughter by his side. The match against Newcastle Falcons was his final game of rugby. He retired at the age of 32. What follows is a somewhat inadequate attempt to summarise his career and what he has meant to Saracens and the club's supporters.
When Jacques Burger joined Saracens in the Spring of 2010, few of us realised quite what an impact he would make on the club. Brendan Venter signed him as a replacement for Wickus Van Heereden who returned home early to join the Lions after a somewhat underwhelming spell at Saracens. Jacques was born in Windhoek, capital of his beloved Namibia, on 29th July,1983 (gosh that makes me feel old). When he joined Wildeklawar Ginquas in 2005 as a Flanker, he was already an International, having made his debut for Namibia against Zambia in 2004. He played for Ginquas 29 times scoring 20 points (I assume 4 tries??) before moving on to French Club Aurillac in 2007. That year he represented Namibia in the World Cup then spent the season in the Auvergne playing for Aurillac 28 times and scoring 1 try before going back south to join Blue Bulls in 2008 where he spent one and a half seasons, representing the club 25 times and scoring 2 tries. He also played twice in Super Rugby for the Bulls.
Brendan Venter became Director of Rugby at Saracens in 2009 and his appointment saw a huge clear out of many of Saracens’ old hands which was not very popular at the time with the supporters. In their place he brought in a number of South Africans who were initially regarded with suspicion (I remember Brits picking up 2 yellow cards in his first 2 games and thinking “O my God what have we got here”). Not all of the signings worked (ie Van Heerden) but undaunted, Venter found new talent in the Dark Continent and along came that “Shaggy haired weapon of mass destruction” (aka Jacques Burger).
He made his debut against Worcester Warriors and appeared in that dreadful game at Adams Park where Sarries lost 9-0 (I was there!!). I wrote in the match report that “Burger replaced Van Heerden and for the 15 minutes he was on the field made a huge difference including an almighty tackle on Varndell”. So it began!
The following week he started in a defeat to Leeds Carnegie then returned to the bench for the next couple of games. However by the time we played Northampton in that epic semi-final at Franklin's Gardens, he was established as a regular and played in the agonising Premiership Final defeat to Leicester Tigers.
He was a regular fixture in the team the following season and by the time Brendan Venter left the club in January 2011, Burger was an important member of the squad. He missed about a month with a knee injury (the first of many) but returned for the final few weeks of the season helping Sarries to a narrow semi final win over Gloucester (and getting sin-binned in the process) before taking part in that heroic win against Leicester in the Final where he and the team repelled 32 phases of attack deep into overtime from a desperate Leicester team before lifting the trophy for the first time in the Club’s history. That season he won the Saracens’ Player of the Year Award.
2011 saw a momentous performance in the Rugby World Cup leading Namibia by example and winning himself a place in the “Team of the Tournament”. But that competition also took a huge toll on his body and his knee in particular, leaving him on the sidelines for 14 months while he underwent surgery which involved realigning the bones in his lower leg. He was told he wouldn’t play again but rather than accepting the advice he sought a second opinion and more surgery in South Africa. At one time he said:-
“I’ve got a ‘game ready’ machine at home, next to my settee, it compresses and ices and keeps the swelling down. I ice my knee about eight times a day: I’ll fill up the machine with ice and I’ll ice it for 20 minutes, take a break, then go again for another 20 minutes. It’s becoming a routine now.”
What a commitment.
Burger returned on the bench for the win over Wasps in 2013 before a full appearance in the rout over Worcester, but things were never going to be the same again. Now he had to nurse his body from game to game, to accept he couldn’t play every week. He said:-
“After the two years I’d been gone, I didn’t think I was going to come back playing, so a bit of pain here and a bit of pain there doesn’t really bother me.”
He missed out on the semifinal loss to Northampton and the Heineken semi final defeat to Toulon. Jacques earned a reputation for toughness, for someone who didn’t feel pain. But of course he did, it was just that not playing was an even more painful. He said:-
“I go to the physio every morning and get loosened up, but at the weekends I’m fresh and it’s just amazing. It’s borderline stupid: people are going to think I’m too dumb to feel the pain, but I don’t know. Rugby is not the nicest game to play if you want to manage your body well. I don’t think I’m tougher than anybody, I just think I’ve got a good attitude.”
After a summer of rest and recuperation, Jacques started the 2013-14 season back in the 7 shirt. Andy Saul, who had been in temporary possession had moved on to Newcastle and Will Fraser was sadly injured. As Saracens decimated all before them, Jacques played the first 4 games straight before Fraser’s return allowed him a week off. He was back the following week when Sarries were stopped in their tracks by a rampant Northampton Saints. Then came that record breaking game at Sandy Park where Jacques completed 36 tackles in Saracens’ 16-9 victory over Exeter, at times almost single handedly keeping the Chiefs from scoring. The games had taken their toll as Jacques suffered numerous injuries which restricted his appearances in the latter half of the season. However, Jacques was put back together again and played in the Aviva semi final victory over Quins, and the dramatic final defeat to Saints along with the European final defeat against Toulon in Cardiff. He played in those 3 huge games in 3 weeks. Quite a feat for a guy whose body was held together with screws and sticking plaster. But perhaps his finest hour was in that amazing 46-6 win over Clermont in the Heineken semi final with a devastating defensive performance. Writing in the Telegraph, Mark Cleary paid this tribute:-
“Burger’s play was elemental: fierce, unrelenting, selfless and totemic. He broke Clermont’s spirit, capturing the essence of this Saracens side by committing his body and soul to the cause. Where he went, sacrificing any notion of personal welfare as he hit hard, again and again and again, everyone else followed. He made 27 tackles, all of them ferocious, all of them influential, contributing to what was the most all-encompassing display from an English side in the 19-year history of European rugby..”
During the game he made 27 momentous tackles – but hardly touched the ball. He said something along the lines that it didn’t matter if he didn’t touch the ball throughout the match as long as he didn’t let the opposition touch it either! It was probably that performance which won him a nomination as Premiership Player of the year (although Mike Brown eventually won).
Following an appearance on Rugby Tonight in 2014, Jacques agreed to have his head shaved to raise money for the Matt Hampson Foundation and for a while those curly locks were gone. He underwent yet more surgery over the summer. It took a while for the real Jacques Burger to come back to life. Like Samson, the loss of his hair seemed to take some of the strength from the great man but slowly over the season, as the hair regrew, so did the real Jacques. An injury to Will Fraser vacated the 7 shirt again and throughout the 2014-15 season, Burger played a lot of games including the dramatic win over Racing in the European quarter finals and the loss to Clermont in the semis. He won his 100th cap for the Club in the Premership semi-final win over Saints at Franklin’s Gardens. He said:-
“This time last year I was a pretty broken man, my body was knackered. I have adapted well after surgery and I feel confident.”
He wasn’t wrong. He was a big part of the Premiership-winning team which beat Bath at Twickenham, experiencing victory again on that hallowed turf and having a deserved second winner’s medal round his neck.
Jacques then turned his attention to one last tilt at World Cup glory in England in the autumn of 2015. Inspired by Japan’s victory over South Africa, he hoped to finally lead his country to a win in the World Cup. Sadly it wasn’t to be. In Namibia’s penultimate game against Georgia, Jacques managed to stop Gorgodze’s run for the line with his head, suffered concussion and after only 9 minutes had to leave the field. He didn’t recover in time for the final game against Argentina and announced his retirement from International Rugby, and also at the end of the season from club rugby as well.
And so began Jacques’ final season with Saracens. Once again appearances were limited by injury although there were signs of Jacques getting back to his old self shortly before yet another injury effectively ended his season for good. He could have just let that be that, but Jacques decided he wanted one last hoorah. So held together by duck tape and painkillers, Jacques walked onto the pitch at Allianz one last time for the final home game of the regular season against Newcastle. Fittingly he was alone apart from his 2 children and his appearance was greeted with a standing ovation. Jacques never does anything by halves and this game was no different and included a try saving tackle, just to prove to himself maybe that he still had it in him. When he left the pitch for the last time after an hour there wasn’t a dry eye in the house and the whole crowd stood and applauded him.
So after a bit more surgery, Jacques and his family will return home to Namibia to take over running the family ranch in Stampriet. Apparently it is an Old German Trading place and his nearest neighbours are 15 miles away. It will all be quite a change but I suspect he will apply himself to the challenge just like he did on the rugby pitch.
But first he will also further his work with Space for Giants, protecting the endangered Africa elephant. It starts with an ascent of Mount Kenya beginning on 6th June to raise money for this charity where he will lead fellow players Mike Ellery, Jim Hamilton, Ben Ransom, Rhys Gill and Nils Mordt to the top of the 4,985m peak and take part in a game of rugby on the summit. (Any donations welcome to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/jacquesclimbforgiants)
There will be a big something missing at Allianz next season. We’ve got used to seeing that "pretty" face and iconic nose around the place. He may be being replaced by that other Burger, Schalk, but whatever the South African’s reputation, Jacques’ boots will be big ones to fill. It says on his Twitter feed:-
“the brave may not live forever but the cautious never lives”
Never was there a truer word. Good luck Jacques and thanks for the memories.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:06:16:16:51:58 by TonyTaff.
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A great read DG, thank you for this and your wonderful contributions throughout the season!!
+1
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I've only started commenting recently but been reading for a while. As others have said your reports are a joy to read and as as is clearly the case here, so too is your subject matter. Thank you too for the time and energy you give in keeping this site alive.
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