Schalk Burger ponders rugby return

Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger, recovering from illness, hopes to decide within the next couple of months on a possible return to the rugby field.

"You get to the point where your health is more important and rugby is not a consideration, but now that I'm recovering well I want to play rugby again," Burger told The Times newspaper today.

"I'll have to be cautious. I won't over-commit, but after my next check-up in seven weeks, I'll take another decision about my future.

"I won't say my return to rugby is definite, but that's what I'm striving towards."

The Stormers flank contracted bacterial meningitis after he underwent surgery in March on a nerve in his back.

"There was a critical stage for about four, nearly five days in which there was a lot of uncertainty," he said.

"In that period I was in isolation and I was seriously ill, so ill, in fact, that some people around me thought, 'this is it'."

Burger said he had spent six weeks in hospital and another eight at home "doing very little".

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

- Sapa