Naas Botha
Transvaal, South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks).
He was voted Rugby Player of the Year in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987.
Family and early career
Botha was born in the town of
However, Botha was selected to play for the South African under-20 rugby team, where he caught the eye of the selectors while still a student at the University of Pretoria.[4]
As a result, Botha played his first Test for the Springboks on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers, Johannesburg.
Rugby union
Botha was best known for extremely accurate (both left- and right-footed) kicking, which earned him the nickname "Nasty Booter" from the British press when the
While Botha was sometimes criticised for avoiding physical contact and not running with the ball, his handling of the ball was very deft and he could get his backline moving very quickly with accurate short and long range passing. As a result, he scored many tries and contributed to many more. However, some consider that he was somewhat weak in defence. Nevertheless, Danie Craven once said, "Give me Naas, and I'll conquer the world!"
Botha remained the highest points scorer in Springbok rugby history for a number of years,[citation needed] with a points total of 312. His tally was passed by Percy Montgomery on 17 July 2004. However, Montgomery passed him in his 50th match, while Botha had only played in 28.[5]
In addition to his Springbok rugby-playing duties, Botha also played for the Northern Transvaal province (nicknamed the "Blou Bulle", which means "Blue Bulls", now their official name) from 1977 to 1995. During this period his contributions ensured that they dominated domestic South African rugby,[citation needed] and won the Currie Cup nine times (sharing it twice with Western Province in 1979 and 1989). He was also captain of the province a record 128 times,[citation needed] and scored a record 2,511 points (including 1,699 points in the Currie Cup).[citation needed]
The 1981 tour and sporting bans
In 1981, Botha travelled with the Springboks to South America; they subsequently beat Ireland and France in their warm-up to their
As an indirect result of this tour, South Africa was banned by the
International career
In the pre-professional era that Botha played in, being paid to play rugby was always a controversial subject. Despite being handsomely paid "under the table", Botha was of the opinion that he could earn more in professional sport and thus he travelled to the United States in 1983 on the invitation of the
In 1987, once again primarily for monetary considerations, Botha moved to the Italian club
Return to the Springboks
Botha's career lasted long enough for him to see South Africa let back into the international rugby fold and to play in one-off Tests against World Cup holders Australia and New Zealand. Both games ended in defeat and Botha then toured France with the Springboks before bowing out in a 33–16 defeat on 14 November 1992 at the age of 34 as flyhalf against England at Twickenham, London. He had set countless Springbok records during his rugby career and is still considered to be one of the Springbok "greats".
Personal life
Botha is married to Karen, a former Springbok athlete and long jump record-holder; the couple have three daughters, Kyla (1991) Gaeby (1998) and Lee-gre (2003).[6]
Career stats
Summary
Team | Matches | Won | Draw | Lost | Tries | Con | Pen | Drop | Points | P/M | %Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
South Africa – Test matches | 28 | 19 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 50 | 50 | 18 | 312 | 11.14 | 67.86 |
South Africa – Tour matches | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 16 | 9 | 173 | 14.42 | 83.33 |
Test match record
No. | Opposition | Result (SA 1st) | Position | Points | Date | Venue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | South American Jaguars |
24–9 | Fly-half |
12 (3 con, 1 pen, 1 drop) | 26 Apr 1980 | Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg |
2. | South American Jaguars | 18–9 | Fly-half | 14 (1 con, 1 pen, 3 drop) | 3 May 1980 | Kings Park, Durban |
3. | British Lions | 26–22 | Fly-half | 6 (3 con) | 31 May 1980 | Newlands, Cape Town |
4. | British Lions | 26–19 | Fly-half | 10 (2 con, 2 pen) | 14 Jun 1980 | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein |
5. | British Lions | 12–10 | Fly-half | 8 (1 con, 1 pen, 1 drop) | 28 Jun 1980 | Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth |
6. | British Lions | 13–17 | Fly-half | 3 (1 pen) | 12 Jul 1980 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
7. | South American Jaguars | 22–13 | Fly-half | 10 (2 con, 1 pen, 1 drop) | 18 Oct 1980 | Wanderers Club, Montevideo |
8. | South American Jaguars | 30–16 | Fly-half | 6 (3 con) | 25 Oct 1980 | Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago |
9. | France | 37–15 | Fly-half | 17 (4 con, 3 pen) | 8 Nov 1980 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
10. | Ireland | 23–15 | Fly-half | 11 (1 con, 3 pen) | 30 May 1981 | Newlands, Cape Town |
11. | Ireland | 12–10 | Fly-half | 12 (1 pen, 3 drop) | 6 Jun 1981 | Kings Park, Durban |
12. | New Zealand | 9–14 | Fly-half | 5 (1 con, 1 drop) | 15 Aug 1981 | Lancaster Park, Christchurch |
13. | New Zealand | 24–12 | Fly-half | 20 (1 con, 5 pen, 1 drop) | 29 Aug 1981 | Athletic Park, Wellington |
14. | New Zealand | 22–25 | Fly-half | 10 (2 con, 2 pen) | 12 Sep 1981 | Eden Park, Auckland |
15. | United States |
38–7 | Fly-half | 6 (3 con) | 20 Sep 1981 | Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York |
16. | South American Jaguars | 50–18 | Fly-half | 15 (6 con, 1 drop) | 27 Mar 1982 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
17. | South American Jaguars | 12–21 | Fly-half | 8 (1 con, 2 pen) | 3 Apr 1982 | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein |
18. | New Zealand Cavaliers | 21–15 | Fly-half (c) | 17 (1 con, 3 pen, 2 drop) | 10 May 1986 | Newlands, Cape Town |
19. | New Zealand Cavaliers | 18–19 | Fly-half (c) | 14 (1 con, 4 pen) | 17 May 1986 | Kings Park, Durban |
20. | New Zealand Cavaliers | 33–18 | Fly-half (c) | 21 (1 try, 4 con, 3 pen) | 24 May 1986 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
21. | New Zealand Cavaliers | 24–10 | Fly-half (c) | 17 (1 con, 5 pen) | 31 May 1986 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
22. | World XV | 20–19 | Fly-half | 12 (1 try, 1 con, 2 pen) | 26 Aug 1989 | Newlands, Cape Town |
23. | World XV | 22–16 | Fly-half | 14 (1 con, 3 pen, 1 drop) | 2 Sep 1989 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
24. | New Zealand | 24–27 | Fly-half (c) | 9 (3 con, 1 pen) | 15 Aug 1992 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
25. | Australia | 3–26 | Fly-half (c) | 3 (1 pen) | 22 Aug 1992 | Newlands, Cape Town |
26. | France | 20–15 | Fly-half (c) | 10 (2 con, 1 pen, 1 drop) | 17 Oct 1992 | Stade de Gerland, Lyon |
27. | France | 16–29 | Fly-half (c) | 11 (1 con, 2 pen, 1 drop) | 24 Oct 1992 | Parc des Princes, Paris |
28. | England | 16–33 | Fly-half (c) | 11 (1 con, 2 pen, 1 drop) | 14 Nov 1992 | Twickenham, London |
Legend: pen = penalty (3 pts.); con = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (3 pts.).
See also
- List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 502
References
- ISBN 0-620-07013-7.
- ^ "Who's Who of Southern Africa". 24.com. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ "Naas Botha Takes the Helm as Director of Rugby at Hoërskool Eldoraigne". SA School Sports. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- ^ http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/hendrik-botha-4580 Naas Botha Retrieved 25 June 2011
- ISBN 0620172940.
- ^ Sarie interviews Botha Retrieved 5 December 2014
External links
- Naas Botha's homepage
- "Naas Botha". scrum.com. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- Morgan, Brad. "Rugby: Naas Botha". southafrica.info. Archived from the original on 24 January 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Naas Botha – Biography". sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Naas Botha – International Record". sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Naas Botha". famousfaces.co.za. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Naas Botha". rugbyhalloffame.com. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Naas Botha" (PDF). sporthalloffame.co.za. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- "Presenter profile – Naas Botha". supersport.co.za. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007.