Mouritz Botha (born 29 January 1982) is a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played for the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. He joined English club

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

in 2006 and made 73 appearances before moving to

in 2009. Botha was named in the 2011

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad for the Churchill Cup after qualifying for England on residency grounds. He was forced to retire on the 30th of September 2017, on medical advice related to concussion.

Bedford Blues

Botha joined

from Bedford Athletic in 2006 and was a mainstay in the team. Botha was selected for an East Midlands team that played in a match against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

. His performances got the attention of the incoming Saracens head coach Brendan Venter and he was signed for Saracens in 2009.

Saracens

Botha was signed for

in the summer of 2009 from the

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

team the

. He made his debut on 5 September 2009 in the

London Double Header The London Double Header ran between 2004 and 2017 and typically opened the season of Premiership Rugby (currently known as the Gallagher Premiership due to sponsorship), the top rugby union league in England. Two games were played consecutively a ...

against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. He came on as a substitute in the 60th minute for fellow Saracens lock Hugh Vyvyan. Mouritz was a success in his first season for Saracens and quickly became a fans' favourite. The season ended in an appearance in the Guinness Premiership Final for Saracens. He again came on as a substitute in this game. He made a total of 32 appearances in the 2009–2010 season, scoring one try. Botha played a vital role in helping Saracens to win the 2010–11 English Premiership. Along the way, he made 27 appearances and was named in the 2011 Sky Sports Dream Team. He was named in the 2011

squad for the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

and made his debut in the 87–8 victory over the . He was subsequently selected in the full England squad and made his debut against . In Botha's third season for

, he was a frequent starter and helping them to finish in the semi-final places of the 2011–12 English Premiership, before losing to

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in the semi-final. In total, he made 24 appearances for Saracens scoring one try. He also made appearances for in both the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

and in all three tests on England's tour of South Africa. During the season, Botha made his 100th appearance for the club in the 40–7 win over

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, helping Saracens to win their

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

pool and giving them a home quarter final draw against

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. Botha also started in the first ever

match to be played at Saracens' new ground

Allianz Park Barnet Copthall is a sports venue on the Hendon-Mill Hill borders in London, which houses several complexes, including a local authority-owned swimming pool and gymnasium facilities, a golf-driving range with 9 hole pitch and putt run by Metro ...

, in a 31–11 victory over

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

. Botha came off of the bench as a second-half substitute for

Alistair Hargreaves Alistair John Hargreaves (born 29 April 1986 in Durban, South Africa) is a former rugby union player that played as a lock. He attended the Durban High School, where he was captain of rugby and headboy in 2004. During his time at the school Har ...

to help Saracens to a 27–16 victory over

in the quarter final of the

setting up a semi final with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. So far in the season, Botha has made 24 appearances for Saracens, scoring 1 try.

Sharks

After spending five-and-a-half seasons at

, Botha returned to South Africa prior to the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

, signing for

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

-based side the . He made eleven appearances for the Sharks in the Super Rugby season, but could not prevent them having a disappointing season, missing out on the finals series by finishing fourth in the South African Conference and 11th on the overall log.

Newcastle Falcons

After just one season at the , Botha returned to England to join the

on a three-year contract prior to the 2015–16 English Premiership season.

International career

Although he was born in South Africa, Botha qualified for England on residency grounds, having moved to England in 2004. Botha impressed with his performances for Saracens on the way to them becoming the Aviva Premiership champions and this led to him being named in the 2011 England Saxons squad for the Churchill Cup. In 2011, he was selected in the England 44-man squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

and made his England debut in the 23–19 victory over , although he eventually missed out on selection for England's World Cup Squad. Botha played in every game of England's

2012 Six Nations The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

campaign, ultimately helping them to a second-place finish. At the end of 2012, Botha was named in the England squad for their tour of South Africa. Returning to his homeland, he started in England's 22–17 loss to South Africa. He later started in the second test and came on as a substitute in the 14–14 draw with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the last test.

References

External links

Saracens profile

England Profile

A series of photographs on Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Mouritz South African rugby union players Living people 1982 births England international rugby union players Bedford Blues players Newcastle Falcons players Saracens F.C. players Rugby union players from KwaZulu-Natal