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Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African 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 it ...
player, who played for Northern Transvaal and
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 coun ...
(the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. Botha mostly played in the
fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
position and is now a rugby commentator for the South African
M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
and Supersport TV channels. He is also the Head coach of the Men's and women's national rugby union team of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
.


Family and early career

Botha was born in the town of
Breyten Breyten is a small farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is situated at the foot of ''Klipstapel'', the highest point on the Drainage divide, watershed between the westward-flowing Vaal River system and the eastward-flowing Olifants/Letab ...
in the Eastern Transvaal (now
Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...
), South Africa and went to school at the Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...
. As a child, Botha aspired to playing professional baseball and applied for a sport scholarship in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Botha was also an excellent schools cricket and tennis player and also a hurdles athlete. 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 The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...
. As a result, Botha played his first
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
for the Springboks on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers,
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
.


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 British Lions toured South Africa in 1980. He is best remembered for his abilities as a very successful drop-kicker in high pressure situations and is also considered to have had an outstanding tactical understanding of rugby. 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 Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...
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, with a points total of 312. His tally was passed by
Percy Montgomery Percival Colin Montgomery OIS (born 15 March 1974) is a South African former professional rugby union player. When he ended his international career in August 2008, he held the all-time records for both caps and points for South Africa's nati ...
on 17 July 2004. However, Montgomery passed him in his 50th match, while Botha had only played in 28. In addition to his Springbok rugby-playing duties, Botha also played for the Northern Transvaal province (nicknamed the "Blou Bulle", which means "
Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...
", now their official name) from 1977 to 1995. During this period his contributions ensured that they dominated domestic South African rugby, and won the
Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premi ...
nine times (sharing it twice with Western Province in 1979 and 1989). He was also captain of the province a record 128 times, and scored a record 2,511 points (including 1,699 points in the Currie Cup).


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 tour of New Zealand. Public opinion was deeply divided over the New Zealand tour, but Botha and his fellow Springboks focused on playing rugby, which was made difficult by actions such as pitch invasions and aircraft fly-bys from protesters opposed to South Africa's apartheid policies. South Africa lost the series 2–1, but the implications of the tour went far beyond rugby. As an indirect result of this tour, South Africa was banned by the
International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...
from international competition until 1992, which meant apart from hosting the rebel
New Zealand Cavaliers tour in 1986 New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
, Botha played few international games. Domestically he made up for it, however: in 15 seasons playing for Northern Transvaal he played in 11 Currie Cup finals, winning nine (two shared) and scoring a record 2,511 points.


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
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
team the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
to try out as a
placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. S ...
. This move was not successful, however, and he returned to South Africa to continue his rugby career. While in the United States, Naas played rugby with the
Dallas Harlequins The Dallas Harlequins Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Dallas, Texas. The Harlequins formerly played in the Super League, but now play in the Texas Rugby Union Men's Division 1. The Harlequins won the 1984 USA National Championsh ...
, where he led them to the 1984 USA National Club Championships. In 1987, once again primarily for monetary considerations, Botha moved to the Italian club
Rugby Rovigo stadium, 200px Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, wh ...
, where he was coached by the former Springboks coach Nelie Smith and played alongside fellow South Africans
Tito Lupini Tito Lupini (12 November 1955 – 23 July 2021) was a South African-born Italian rugby union player who played as a prop. Biography Born and raised in South Africa by Italian parents, Lupini as a player represented the provincial team of Transv ...
and
Gert Smal Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961, Kimberley, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top L ...
. During the course of 6 seasons, Botha played 119 games for Rovigo and helped the team winning two National Championships (in 1988 and 1990), ending a 9 years drought, also reaching the final twice (1989 and 1992), in addition to a semifinal (1991) and a quarter final (1993). The Botha-era is still vividly remembered in
Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest ...
, the most rugby-addicted city in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, where the former player enjoys a sort of
Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
/
Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
aura.


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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
at
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 boro ...
, 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 Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...
, a former Springbok athlete and long jump record-holder; the couple have three daughters, Kyla (1991) Gaeby (1998) and Lee-gre (2003).Sarie interviews Botha
Retrieved 5 December 2014


Career stats


Summary


Test match record

''Legend: pen = penalty (3 pts.); con = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (3 pts.).''


See also

*
List of South Africa national rugby union players South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several players from the South Africa national rugby union team have joined the IRB and International Hall of Fame. Individual records Career South Africa's '' ...
– Springbok no. 502


References


External links


Naas Botha's homepage
* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Naas 1958 births Living people People from Msukaligwa Local Municipality Afrikaner people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees University of Pretoria alumni South Africa national rugby union team captains Rugby union players from Mpumalanga Blue Bulls players