Robert Edward Burgess (26 March 1949) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and academic. A

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, Burgess represented Manawatu at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, from 1971 to 1973. He played 30 matches for the All Blacks including seven internationals. In 1970 Burgess refused nomination for the All Black trials for the

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...

as a protest against that country's

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime, and in 1981 he actively campaigned against the 1981 South African tour of New Zealand. Burgess has a master's degree (1973) and a PhD (1984) in plant ecology from

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. At the 1998 local-body elections, Burgess stood for the Palmerston North mayoralty, finishing fourth in a field of 15 candidates. He is married to New Zealand writer Linda Burgess.

References

1949 births Living people Rugby union players from New Plymouth People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School People educated at Hastings Boys' High School New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Lyon OU Rugby players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Anti-apartheid activists {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1940s-stub Massey University alumni