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'Matthew Coleman Burke' (born March 26 1973 in Sydney) is an Australian rugby union player. He grew up in Carlingford, New South Wales, and was schooled at St Gerard Majella Cathloic Primary School, Carlingford^[1] and St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. He was often mentioned as the best starting fullback in the world and is the all time second-highest scorer for Australia in international rugby.

Contents

Early rugby career

Feats

Recent accomplishments

Decline

Career in the United Kingdom

2007 International Comeback

Honours

Notes and references

External links

Early rugby career

Starting out by playing at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, Burke's long career in representative rugby began in 1990 when he toured the United States and Ireland with the Australian Schoolboys. He then graduated to the Australian Under 21s team in 1992 and 1993 at the same time as playing at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1992 and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1993. His Test debut was inevitable in 1993 when he played in the Third Test against the South African Springboks.

Feats

He was once considered to be the best fullback in the world and a great rival, in terms of goal-kicking, to New Zealand's five-eighth Andrew Mehrtens. One of the greatest Test fullbacks of all time, Matthew Burke had been a Wallaby for over a decade. His third year as New South Wales Waratahs captain saw him become the first player in the history of Waratah rugby to play over 100 games.
He is the most successful Australian fullback against New Zealand's All Blacks and has taken particular delight in upsetting New Zealanders, which has included scoring one of Australia's greatest Bledisloe Cup tries, in 1996, perhaps one of the most memorable tries of the entire decade. From a standing start in Brisbane, Burke broke through numerous New Zealand tackles, throwing a dummy to off-balance several other All Blacks, before running 70 metres for a memorable individual try. In 1998 he scored all 24 of the Wallabies points against New Zealand at the MCG, a world record against the All Blacks. A deed he repeated when he scored all of Australia's 23 points to lead them to victory against the All Blacks in 2001. Although Burke would be plagued by games where his goal-kicking ability deserted him, such as the game a week afterwards in 1998, when he missed three attempts - although he would still capture the adulation of many fans when he scored the winning try, and in the process destroy his shoulder. Despite making it back in the squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, some have speculated that this injury affected his playing style.
As the Wallaby fullback in 1999 he scored an amazing 23 points against the All Blacks at Stadium Australia, 24 points against in the RWC semi final and 25 points against in the grand final; in effect winning Australia the world cup.

Recent accomplishments

Wallaby selectors saw the value of Burke's leadership by retaining him as vice-captain for the 2002 season. In that season, Burke added to his national worth when he kicked a penalty after fulltime to win the Bledisloe Cup in windy conditions at Stadium Australia. He has also proved his worth in defence, with the ability of being able to get into rucks and mauls without worry. While in recent years, he had been flickering, he was still the brilliant goal-kicker that he was a decade earlier (with an almost constant strike rate throughout his career). As of August 2004, Matt Burke played for the NSW Waratahs in the position of fullback/centre.

Decline

After the 1999 World Cup, Burke had been plagued by many injuries which severely limited his return to form. Despite his legendary status he would still have to compete for the fullback position with up-and-coming Queenslander Chris Latham. While his goal kicking and fairly regular try-scoring had saved Australia in many games his injuries would soon take their toll. He then had to make a courageous transformation into wing and then outside centre to accommodate Latham's place on the team. Many commentators noted that he was however, restricted from playing more freely while not in his favoured fullback position. In 2003, he was given the position back but did not perform well enough to retain it. Midway through the 2003 Rugby World Cup he was axed from the starting lineup - drawing mixed reactions; he would be relegated to the bench for the rest of his Wallabies career. In 2004, he found himself dropped from the NSW waratahs - a controversial decision based not on form but on Burke's age. While he was injured early in that season - he still managed to score 62 points from his first six games; placing him ahead of Andrew Mehrtens in the all time points lead of the Super 12 (now Super 14) competition. Coach Ewan Mckenzie's decision to drop Burke drew ire from many in the union fraternity, who accused Mckenzie of disloyalty and being shortsighted. This was further questioned when NSW attempted to poach footballer Andrew Johns from rival code league, despite John's and Burke's similar ages. Burke would not be completely forgotten, however, for his lasting impact in the blue jersey; the NSW Waratahs player of the year now wins the ‘Matt Burke Trophy’.
Matt Burke played his last international test on August 21, 2004 against South Africa for the final few minutes - this was despite being dropped from the lesser NSW Waratahs the same season; the Australian coach describing it as an "independent event". It was coincidently 11 years to the day that he had also debuted for the Wallabies, also against the Springboks. When he had played his final game in Australia, a fortnight earlier, he was hoisted and paraded on the shoulders of his Wallaby team mates - receiving a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd.
Burke is still Australia's most capped fullback, having played 54 of his 81 Tests in that position. After breaking 1000 career points for NSW in 2003, he has scored 878 Test points for Australia.

Career in the United Kingdom

While his international career was (in actuality) over, Australian coach Eddie Jones had hinted that Burke's journey may not be over yet for at least another year afterwards with the possibility of him being called up for Australia's tour of the UK. Burke denied this possibility and was proven right when it never eventuated. After losing his NSW contract, Burke was offered contracts by eight different clubs - including the Queensland Reds and teams in New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, France and England.
He currently plays in the United Kingdom to play out his career for the Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership, as result of his dumping from the NSW Waratahs. Burke has signed a new two-year deal with Newcastle, committing him to Kingston Park until the summer of 2008. He has been voted starting fullback in the 'Wallaby Team of the Decade', has also won the 'Player of the Year' at the Falcons and more recently has been named as captain of the side. Falcons team-member, and onetime goal-kicking adversary, Jonny Wilkinson has recently said that he loves the game-play that he shares with Burke, due to his reputation as a world class play-maker and his hero-status "in his homeland".
In 2006, in his latest international appearance, he was named as starting fullback for the World XV Rugby team to play the South African Springboks for their first 2006 game.
In February 2007, he obtained a British passport (while retaining Australian citizenship), qualifying through his England-born mother. His main reason for doing so was Guinness Premiership regulations prohibiting teams from having more than one non-EU citizen on the field at any time. This will enable the Falcons to play him at the same time as New Zealand prop Joe McDonnell.^[2]

2007 International Comeback

As previously noted, Burke last played for the Wallabies in 2004; where he left in fairly cloudy circumstances (usually attributed to his age). Despite the fact he announced that he was effectively retired, Burke has been recently approached by the Wallabies for a comeback appearance at starting fullback. This has apparently transpired in light of Burke's appearance for the World XV, his success and appointment as captain at the falcons and Chris Latham's injury woes. However, 'England-based Burke on advised the Australian Rugby Union he won't make himself available for the Wallabies' seven-Test winter program, including the Tri-Nations'.
But he has not ruled out an appearance for the Wallabies for the 2007 World Cup if needed. The world cup winner has indicated he 'would judge a possible World Cup approach on its merits'.
The response from Chris Latham was negative, suggesting it was inconsiderate of local talent - denying his criticism was due to 'selfish motives'.
As of May, 2007 Burke has continued to keep himself open to the possibility of starting in the world cup, although this is highly improbable. Despite the support of the Australian Coach and selectors, any selection has come under fire from other players, former coach Eddie Jones and even the ARU board; which cited a concern regarding precadent for selecting overseas players.
Indeed, such prospects appear to be over considering that Chris Latham has subsequently made an appearance off the bench for the wallabies in the 2007 Tri-nations/Bledisloe decider against New Zealand in the 21st July blockbuster.

Honours

★ Holds 22 Australian Rugby records and 7 International records

★ Fifth highest international points scorer of all time

★ Eastwood Rugby Club (1990-2004)

★ World XV Rugby Team (2006)

★ NSW Waratahs (1990-2004)

★ Rugby Sevens Australia (1993)

★ Australian Wallabies (1993-2004)

★ Rugby World Cup Australia (1995, 1999 (winners), 2003 (runners-up))

★ PM's XV (1999, 2000-2002)

★ Barbarians (1999,2001,2003,2004,2005)

★ Newcastle Falcons (2004-)

★ Wallaby of the Year (1996)

★ Sydney Morning Herald Player of the Year (1996-1998)

★ Twentieth most capped international of all time.

★ Second-highest Super 12 scorer of all time (behind Andrew Mehrtens).

★ Second-highest scorer of all time in the Rugby Union Tri Nations (behind Mehrtens).

Notes and references

1. Matthew Burke: A Rugby Life, , Matthew, Burke, Pan Macmillan Australia, ,
2. Burke becomes a Brit!

External links

★ "Matt Burke could be a cup surprise" (Sydney Morning Herald)

★ "Matt Burke's great 1996 try" (YouTube)

★ "World XV gears up again for Boks clash" (Scrum Online)

★ "Eales, Burke part of 'Team of the Decade'" (Xtra Rugby)

★ "Matt Burke Ready for Challenge at the Falcons" (BBC)

★ Matthew Burke's Farewell Gallery (Sydney Morning Herald)

★ "Phil Waugh wins M.Burke Cup on an Emotional Night" (NSWRU)

★ Matt Burke Player profile from NSW Rugby

★ Matt Burke Player Profile from the Australian Wallabies

★ Scrum.com player statistics