South African Rugby
Burger back training after overcoming setbacks
ESPN Staff
July 25, 2013
Stormers flanker Schalk Burger looks for the pass, Cape Town, South Africa, January 16, 2013
Schalk Burger is back in the Western Province set-up © Getty Images
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Springbok flanker Schalk Burger is back in training for the Western Province after recovering from a host of setbacks.

Burger, who has 68 caps for South Africa, missed the entire 2012 Super Rugby season with a knee injury and despite getting fit in time for the 2013 campaign, he injured his calf in a pre-season match. He then underwent surgery to remove a cyst which was pressing against his spinal cord in March but further complications saw him contract bacterial meningitis.

Burger spent six weeks in hospital and another eight weeks indoors recovering from the illness but doctors have informed the flanker the cyst is gone and he can resume training. But he is reluctant to put a time-scale on his playing comeback.

"To give a timeline is quite difficult... I certainly don't want to over-commit," Burger said. "The good news is that I can start to train properly and get the heart-rate up. That, in itself, is exciting news and I look forward to increasing my training schedule over the next few weeks with the help of the strength and conditioning team at WP Rugby. We will then reassess things again in a month's time."

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