Australia lock Will Skelton has blamed Schalk Burger for inflicting upon him his first hangover, recalling how a Saracens drinking session led to him 'spilling his guts.'
Two-time Premiership champion Skelton was 24 when he joined Saracens in 2017 (initially on a short-term loan from the Waratahs). Legendary back-rower Burger, on the other hand, was a seasoned professional, a member of South Africa 's 2007 Rugby World Cup -winning squad and entering the final years of a career spanning almost two decades.
That kind of experience comes with its advantages, such as being able to show a 150-kilogram rookie the ropes on the social side. Skelton revealed he wasn't a big drinker upon arriving in London, and this was one session that required a significant recovery period.
“I came on loan for eight weeks, we played Sale at home, then Sale away and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, we have got a trip,'" Skelton recalled on the RugbyPass Offload podcast. "I'm thinking, ‘What do you mean a trip, a training camp or something?’ They’re like, ‘No.’
“I’m not sure do I pack my boots and then literally you’re 4am, on the bus to Gatwick. I wasn’t a big drinker. I think literally that was the first time I got hungover with the boys in my life, so it was a new experience. Thanks, Schalk Burger for feeding me pints all night. He can drink, mate. Oh my god, he can drink. It was a great trip. It was awesome.
“Peer pressure got me there. Like I said, I didn’t drink so I didn’t eat and that first morning after the first night I’m there just over the toilet, spilling my guts. I had nothing coming out, just bile. It was burning my throat. I didn’t drink after that… until the next trip.”
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The comments come in the same week that former England and Harlequins winger Ugo Monye told the Telegraph rugby must address its drinking culture to become fully inclusive. Monye chairs the Rugby Football Union's independent advisory group on diversity and has highlighted alcohol doesn't integrate well with certain religions at a time when rugby participation levels are dropping.
Skelton believes the kind of social setting he enjoyed at Saracens are "very important" to building a healthy team environment. He said shorts breaks while at Saracens gave he and his team-mates "something to look forward to" outside of rugby, adding: "It was always a special time.”
One would imagine Burger—the 2004 World Rugby Player of the Year, who won 86 caps for the Springboks—is a difficult man to turn down. The experience at least doesn't appear to have hurt Skelton, who lifted his second European Champions Cup with Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle in May.
