Mike Burton (rugby union) Mike Burton (rugby union) Michael Alan "Mike" Burton (born 18 December 1945 in Maidenhead) is a former English rugby union footballer, who won a reputation as an uncompromising prop forward for Gloucester, England and the British and Irish Lions. Burton arrived at Kingsholm from the local club Longlevens RFC and made his debut in the Gloucester front row at the age of 18 on 14 November, 1964. He went on to make 366 appearances before retiring in 1978. He was captain of Gloucester in the 1975 season and played 50 times at provincial level for Gloucestershire including 39 appearances in
Zimbabwe national rugby union team that year playing six matches, the first against Surrey at Twickenham and one of the others being against Gloucestershire at Kingsholm on 1 October. That same year, the ZRU would sever all its ties to the South African Rugby Board due to mounting pressure to boycott the apartheid regime; while Zimbabwe would gain international acceptance was a rugby side, they would no longer have the benefit of having teams in the Currie Cup and other competitions. They played their first international game as Zimbabwe on 7 July 1981 against Kenya, winning 34 to 24. Throughout the 1980s, Zimbabwe would play