Matt Burke (b. March 26, 1973) is an Australian rugby player.

Early rugby career

Starting out by playing at St Joeys, Burke's long career in representative rugby began in 1990 when he toured the UK and Ireland with the Australian Schoolboys. He then graduated to the Australian U21s team in 1992 and 1993 at the same time as playing at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1992 and the World Cup Sevens in 1993. His Test debut was inevitable in 1993 when he played in the Third Test against the Springboks.

Feats

He was once considered the best fullback in the world and a great rival, in terms of goal-kicking, to New Zealand's Andrew Merthens. One of the greatest Test fullbacks of all time, Matthew Burke has been a Wallaby for a decade. His third year as NSW captain saw him become the first player in the history of Waratah rugby to play over 100 games. He is the most successful Australian fullback against New Zeland and has taken particular delight in upsetting New Zealanders, which has included scoring one of Australia's greatest Bledisloe Cup tries, in 1996, perhaps one of the most memorable tries of the entire decade. From a standing start in Brisbane, Burke broke through numerous New Zealand tackles, throwing a dummy to off-balance several other All Blacks, before running 70 metres for a memorable individual try. In 1998 he scored all 24 of the Wallabies points against New Zealand at the MCG, a world record against the All Blacks.

As the Wallaby fullback in 1999 he scored an amazing 23 points against the All Blacks at Stadium Australia, 24 points against South Africa in the RWC semi final and 25 points against France in the grand final; in effect winning Australia the world cup.

Recent accomplishments

Burke is Australia's most capped fullback, having played 54 of his 82 Tests in that position. After breaking 1000 career points for NSW in 2003, he currently (2004) sits on 878 Test points. Wallaby selectors saw the value of Burke's leadership by retaining him as vice-captain for the 2002 season. In that season, Burke added to his national worth when he kicked a penalty after fulltime to win the Bledisloe Cup in windy conditions at Stadium Australia. He has also proved his worth in defence, with the ability of being able to get into rucks and mauls without worry. While in recent years, he is been flickering, he is still the brilliant goal-kicker that he was a decade ago. It is believed that he will play his last internationals for Australia in 2004, although coach Eddie Jones has hinted that Burke's journey may not be over yet for at least another year. As of August 2004, Matt Burke plays currently for the NSW Waratahs in the position of fullback/centre. He is off to the UK to play out his career with the Newcastle Falcons at the end of this year.