[3] His father was a successful Boot and Shoemaker, employing a number of men at his firm in Hawick.
He was captain of the club in the 1887 season and was also selected to play for his county side, Roxburgh.
He was described as "a good sterling forward and a very hard worker in the mauls, and can always be relied upon turning out in good condition"[2] The 1888 tour was organized by two cricket professionals, Arthur Shrewsbury and Alfred Shaw, and they selected Bob along with his brother Willie, making the siblings the first set to tour together for the Lions.
Burnet was described as being vital to the Lions success as he played in 30 of the 35 matches, scoring one try against Queensland.
[1] During the 1888 tour, after the Brisbane match, Robert made his made up to stay in Australia, whilst his fellow Hawick RFC teammates, William Burnet (his brother) and Alex Laing, returned to face questioning about their amateur status as soon as they returned.