FOR Jacques Burger, every picture tells the story of his rugby life. The Saracens flanker sports a broken nose that has been repaired "four or five times" and the kind of wild hair that acts as a warning to the unwary.
Burger plays with such commitment that he appears to put his body at serious risk every time he goes into contact.
He admits to having spent four days recovering from the effects of his performance against London Irish on the opening day of the season but now that his body is, once again, accustomed to the batterings, he is desperate to take on leaders Northampton Saints at Vicarage Road on Sunday.
However, it would be wrong to suggest Burger was merely a back- row forward intent on putting himself in harm's way. Top class open- side flankers need to be both slightly mad and technically sound to fulfil their role, which revolves around knocking opponents over and trying to steal the ball or delay the opposition getting their mlb jerseys wholesale hands on possession.
"My wife loves my nose and hair and still says I am pretty," said Burger. "I play rugby with passion and you could describe me as fearless. I just go out there to enjoy my rugby. Someone asked me recently how I manage to get 'up' for games and there is a switch which goes on once I'm on the pitch.
"Some of the backs say that I have no respect for my body but all I'm doing is giving 100 per cent to the cause and hopefully, giving the team a boost during the game.
"I feel so at home on the pitch, I'm lucky to have been born that way. Yes, it does hurt the day after a match when the adrenaline has gone but the soreness does get less as the season goes on and we are going to have another vital game with Northampton.
"It will be a big old battle and I came to England to play with and against the best players and if we want to win the Premiership then saint yves we have to beat Northampton on Sunday."
Having arrived last December, Burger has quickly won over the Sarries fans who would have known little about the former Bulls forward when he moved to London to replace Wikus van Heerden, who returned to South Africa to join the Lions in Johannesburg.
Anyone who hears Burger's voice will wrongly assume that he's another of the club's South African contingent but the 27-year-old is a native of Windhoek and has just guided Namibia through the tough qualifying rounds to earn a place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Given that the Namibian squad only feature four professional players, they are always going to struggle on the biggest stage and have yet to win a match at a World Cup tournament. It will be the fourth time they will be appearing at the greatest rugby show on the planet and while their predominantly amateur squad will hope to make an impact, everyone associated with the team knows that captain Burger is certain to leave his mark on the opposition. "Hopefully, at the end of next year I will be captain of Namibia again," said Burger, who has been capped 24 times.
"It's a great achievement to qualify and I'm very proud. Of course it is tough group with South Africa, Wales, Fiji and Samoa. When you look at that pool you can say we have been thrown into the deep end -- let's hope we bring the World Cup back to Namibia!" While Burger's life currently revolves around rugby, he is planning for the future and has bought a farm with his father-in-law back home in Namibia and will be undertaking courses while here in England to prepare him for a very different c
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