[1] He was selected to play for Ireland for a single match, on 30 November 1912 against the touring South Africans, which the visitors won 0–38.

[1] He was invited to play for the Barbarians, alongside Alexander Jackson, the Irish centre, and former England captain Edgar Mobbs, against Newport RFC on 27 December 1913, losing 14–0.

Soon after the First World War began, in November 1914, Burgess was commissioned in the Royal Army Service Corps.

On 9 December 1915,[5] he was hit by a shell while cycling down the rue de Dunkerque in Armentières, northern France, and died at a casualty clearing station.

[1] He is buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension Nord (II.B.63),[5] and is commemorated at the entrance to the reading room at Trinity College, Dublin.