Wietz Tobias Botes (born 26 April 1984, in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

) in a South African-born

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 most recently played for the . He normally plays as a scrum-half or fly-half. Despite being born in South Africa, he played in 22 test matches for

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 re ...

between 2012 and 2014.

Career

Youth rugby

Botes started off his career at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

-based side the , representing them in the 2004 Under-20 Provincial Championship. In 2005, he played for in the Under-21 Provincial Championship.

Senior career

Boland Cavaliers

He made his senior debut for the during the 2004 Vodacom Shield competition, starting their match against at and made one substitute appearance the following week against the .

Griquas / Cheetahs

He moved to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

to join the in 2005. After a season playing for their Under-21 side, he graduated to their senior side, making six appearances during the

2006 Vodacom Cup The 2006 Vodacom Cup was the 9th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions. Competition There were 14 teams parti ...

competition, scoring one try, three conversions and a penalty. He made his

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 premier ...

debut during the

2006 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2006 ABSA Currie Cup season was contested from June through to October. The Currie Cup is an annual domestic competition for rugby union clubs in South Africa. The tournament was controversial before it even began, with the Southern Spears sag ...

, coming on as a substitute against the . His first start in the Currie Cup competition came the following week against . After a further eight appearances in the

2007 Vodacom Cup The 2007 Vodacom Cup was the 10th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby unio ...

, Botes firmly established himself as a first-team regular, appearing in eleven of ' matches during the

2007 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2007 ABSA Currie Cup season was contested from June through to October. The Currie Cup is an annual domestic competition for provincial rugby union teams in South Africa. The competition was won by the Free State Cheetahs The Free State ...

. In 2008, Botes was also included in the squad for the

2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...

. After being an unused substitute in their opening match against the , his

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut came during their second round match against the in Bloemfontein. He also played off the bench in their match against the in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, and made his first start later in the competition against the . During this time, he also made five appearances for Griquas in the

2008 Vodacom Cup The 2008 Vodacom Cup was played between 22 February and 16 May 2008 and was the 11th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between the fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa fro ...

and later played in nine matches for them during the

2008 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2008 Currie Cup Premier Division season (known as the ABSA Currie Cup due to sponsorship) was contested from 20 June through to 25 October. The Currie Cup is an annual domestic competition for provincial rugby union teams in South Africa. T ...

competition.

Treviso

In 2008, it was announced that Botes would join Italian

Super 10 The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, ...

side for the 2008–09 season. He immediately established himself as a first-choice regular and scored 328 points in a hundred appearances for the club between 2008 and 2014. In the six seasons he spent at the club, they won the

on two occasions – in 2008–09 and 2009–10 – and also won the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

in 2010. He was the top scorer for Benetton Treviso during the

2010–11 Celtic League The 2010–11 Magners League was the tenth Celtic League season and the fifth with Magners as title sponsor. The regular season began on 3 September 2010 and finished on the weekend of 6–8 May 2011. During these stages, each team played every ot ...

with 127 points, making a total of 48 appearances in the competition during his spell at the club.

Eastern Province Kings

He returned to South Africa by joining the prior to the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

season. He made eight appearances for the Kings in the competition, but wasn't named in the training squad for the 2015 season. Instead, he concentrated on farming at his family farm near

. It was initially indicated that he would to this for the first half of 2015 before returning to action for the EP Kings for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was t ...

, but it was later confirmed that he would not return to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

Italy

Although he was born in South Africa, Botes played international rugby for . In January 2012, he was called up to the Italian squad as cover for the

2012 Six Nations Championship 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 ...

. He was named amongst the replacements for the opening game against on 4 February 2012 and made his debut, coming on as a replacement just before the hour mark and kicking a penalty shortly after coming on to score his first international points in a 12–30 loss. He made a total of five appearances during the 2012 Six Nations Championship, scoring eight points and also played in three matches against touring sides , and in November 2012. He once again appeared in all five of Italy's matches during the

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

, helping them to two victories during the competition. In June 2013, he was included in a touring squad to South Africa to play in a quadrangular tournament also involving and , but could not help Italy achieve a victory in any of those matches. He also played in three

2013 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2013 end of year rugby tests, also known as the 2013 Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between European sides - England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland an ...

against , and . He made three more appearances for Italy during the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

for a total of 22 test matches, scoring eight points through one conversion and two penalties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botes, Tobie 1984 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Boland Cavaliers players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Eastern Province Elephants players Griquas (rugby union) players Benetton Rugby players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union fly-halves Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Rugby union players from Worcester, South Africa