The Toyota Hilux Legend 55 & the Incredible Schalk

The new Toyota Hilux Legend 55 and World Cup-winning Springbok Schalk Burger could have been manufactured in the same factory’s such are their similarities in status and excellence writes Mark Keohane.

Few players have embodied the raw power, resilience, and reliability of a Toyota Hilux quite like Schalk Burger — the tireless warrior who turned collisions into poetry and setbacks into stories of legend.

In his debut international season, the young blond loose forward — all energy and aggression — became the heartbeat of Jake White’s rejuvenated Springboks. His fearless tackling, breakdown dominance and relentless work rate defined the Bok identity that year, earning him the 2004 World Rugby Player of the Year award.

At just 21, Burger was the world’s best.

Three years later, in Paris, he was a world champion. Part of South Africa’s 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning side, Burger’s uncompromising presence in the loose trio set the tone for the Boks’ triumph. He was never just a player — he was a symbol of South African grit, loyalty and endurance.

Yet his greatest fight came not on a rugby field but in a hospital bed.

In 2013, Burger contracted bacterial meningitis following a neck operation — a brush with death that left him in isolation for weeks and nearly claimed his life. He lost 25 kilograms and faced the terrifying possibility that his rugby career was over. But like the Hilux, built to endure the harshest terrain, Burger’s spirit was unbreakable.

He fought his way back to full health, regained the weight, the fitness, and, most importantly, the fire. Within a year he was back in a Stormers jersey, and soon again in the green and gold. His comeback was more than sport — it was a triumph of human will and a testament to toughness and faith.

Burger closed his storied career in the north of London with Saracens, adding English Premiership and European Champions Cup titles to his already bulging résumé. He brought leadership, humility and that familiar ferocity to every contest — proof that legends never fade; they evolve.

From Stellenbosch to Twickenham, from near tragedy to ultimate triumph, Schalk Burger remains a man forged in adversity — a legend built tough, like the Toyota Hilux Legend 55.

Burger won an under 20 World Championship title, a senior World Cup gold in 2007 and a World Cup bronze in 2015.

Career appearances

2003-2014 – Western Province (37)

2004-2016 – Stormers (123)

2014-201- Suntory Sungoliath/Japan (17)

2003-2015- Springboks (86)

2014-2015- Springboks XV (2)

Toyota Hilux Legend 55 speaks to the rugby legacy of Bakkies Botha

 

In celebrating the new Toyota Hilux Legend 55, we pay tribute to the incredible Schalk!@ToyotaSA #Legend55 #ToyotaBakkiesSA #NotJustABakkie pic.twitter.com/L0Sw0tSOiw

— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) October 17, 2025

 

 

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