George "Jerry" Francis Burgess (20 September 1883 – 2 May 1961) was 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 who represented 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 ...

in 1905. His position of choice was halfback. He was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

in 1883 although he was also said to have been born in October 1876. He died in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1961, and was buried at Waikumete Cemetery.

Career

Burgess was commonly referred to as Jerry. He originally played as a five-eighth. Burgess joined the Pirates club in Invercargill and soon made his way into the Southland provincial side. He played 27 games for the union from 1902 until 1907. On the playing field Burgess was described as a "quick-passing halfback who gave good service to his backs. A reliable player who was adept at making openings". A referee also stated that Burgess was a "persistent squealer". His only match for the All Blacks was lucky to be recognised as an international. It was against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Tahuna Park Tahuna and Tainui are two small, somewhat vaguely defined suburbs of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. They lie to the south of Andersons Bay and Musselburgh, close to Dunedin's southern coastline ( Ocean Beach). Both are often considered parts o ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in 1905. He was further helped with selection thanks to the famous Original's tour, meaning the top 27 players in the country had left for the northern hemisphere. Even if it was a slightly weaker side, the match was fortunately won 14–3. He continued playing rugby for the next two seasons afterwards.

Family and personal

His father was also named George. His mother's name was Elizabeth. Burgess became a bricklayer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, George New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players 1883 births 1961 deaths Burials at Waikumete Cemetery Rugby union players from Christchurch