Schalk "Schalla" Burger Jr. (born April 13 1983, Port Elizabeth) is a promising young South African rugby union player. He plays the position of flanker in the Springbok rugby union team, and is widely considered to be the best in his position in world rugby. Despite his age, he is a big man, weighing in at 106kg and standing 193cm tall (6'4", 235 lb).

His father, also called Schalk Burger, was an international lock, being capped for South Africa during the "isolation years" of the 1980s.

Schalk was schooled at Paarl Gimnasium, and enjoyed success in many sports, not least of all cricket. Even his father claims he expected Schalk would follow a career in professional cricket and not rugby union.

After playing for the U21 Springbok side that won the U21 Rugby World Cup in 2002 and then captaining it in 2003, Schalk was selected for the professional Springbok squad. He made his debut against Georgia in 2003 at the Rugby World Cup and has since carved out a name as one of the best flankers in the world with big performances in the Super 12, Tri-Nations and Currie Cup. Burger plays for the Vodacom Stormers and Investec Western Province Rugby Union.

In 2004 Burger was selected as part of a rejuvenated Springbok squad, who under the guiding hand of new coach Jake White went on to win the Tri-Nations trophy for the first time since Nick Mallet's team managed the feat in 1998. He was also awarded the most coveted rugby player's award, the IRB's Player of the Year award in the 2004 season. In addition, he claimed the 2004 Absa SA Rugby Player of the Year award.

Due to his massive strength, size, workrate and enthusiasm, Schalk Burger has risen to prominence in modern forward play. His versatility is a great asset, being able to disrupt and turnover opposition ball at the breakdown, effectively compete in the lineouts, carry the ball strongly and defend very well. In addition, his fitness is remarkable: Schalk is rarely rested throughout the Stormers' Super 12/14 campaigns, South African test matches or the Currie Cup, while playing a major role in forward play and seldom substituted before the final whistle. Despite these strengths, Schalk Burger does have a problem on field with accruing yellow cards and penalties frequently, a problem common to many - if not all - 'fetcher' flankers in world rugby.

After an indifferent 2006 Super 14 season, during which Burger showed only flashes of the brilliance that took him to the peak of world rugby, Burger was to once again start in his favoured number 6 position (openside flank) for the national team for the upcoming expanded Tri-Nations test series against Australia and New Zealand. However, in the Springboks' June 17 Test against Scotland, he suffered a neck injury. The following day, it was confirmed that he would require cervical fusion surgery and would be out of action for at least the remainder of 2006."Burger blow for the Springboks", Planet-Rugby.com, 19 June 2006. The injury and the required surgery are serious enough that White told media, "I don't want to jump to conclusions - but there is a chance he may never play again.""Fears for injured Burger's career", BBC, 19 June 2006. Burger's father told a Cape Town radio program that the injury was between his sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, adding, "Although the operation is difficult the fact that the injury is lower down his neck is good for a future prognosis of making a full recovery." The South African Rugby Union released a statement on 24 June, the date of the surgery, indicating that the surgery was successful and that Burger would undergo six to eight months of rehabilitation with plans to return him to the game."Schalk Burger jnr operation successful", South African Rugby Union, 24 June 2006.

Schalk Burger has been capped 27 times to date by the South African Springboks.

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