Naas Botha

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).

Naas Botha
Birth nameHendrik Egnatius Botha
Date of birth (1958-02-27) 27 February 1958
Place of birthBreyten, Transvaal, South Africa
SchoolHoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd
UniversityUniversity of Pretoria
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1987–93 Rugby Rovigo 119 (1731)
Correct as of 11 August 2014
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1977–95 Northern Transvaal 179 (2511)
Correct as of 11 August 2014
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1980–92
1986, 1992		 South Africa
World XV		 28 (312)
Correct as of 11 August 2014

He was voted Rugby Player of the Year in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987.[1] Botha mostly played in the fly-half position and is now a rugby commentator for the South African M-Net and Supersport TV channels.[2] He is also the Head coach of the Men's and women's national rugby union team of India.[3]

Family and early career

Botha was born in the town of Breyten in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa and went to school at the Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd in Pretoria. As a child, Botha aspired to playing professional baseball and applied for a sport scholarship in the United States. 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.[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 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 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 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, 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, 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 from international competition until 1992, which meant apart from hosting the rebel New Zealand Cavaliers tour in 1986, 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 team the Dallas Cowboys to try out as a placekicker. 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, 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, where he was coached by the former Springboks coach Nelie Smith and played alongside fellow South Africans Tito Lupini and Gert Smal. 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, the most rugby-addicted city in Italy, where the former player enjoys a sort of Maradona/Napoli 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 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
TeamMatchesWonDrawLostTriesConPenDropPointsP/M%Won
South Africa – Test matches281909250501831211.1467.86
South Africa – Tour matches12100244116917314.4283.33

Test match record
No.OppositionResult (SA 1st)PositionPointsDateVenue
1. South American Jaguars24–9Fly-half12 (3 con, 1 pen, 1 drop)26 Apr 1980Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
2. South American Jaguars18–9Fly-half14 (1 con, 1 pen, 3 drop)3 May 1980Kings Park, Durban
3. British Lions26–22Fly-half6 (3 con)31 May 1980Newlands, Cape Town
4.British & Irish Lions British Lions26–19Fly-half10 (2 con, 2 pen)14 Jun 1980Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
5.British & Irish Lions British Lions12–10Fly-half8 (1 con, 1 pen, 1 drop)28 Jun 1980Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
6.British & Irish Lions British Lions13–17Fly-half3 (1 pen)12 Jul 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
7. South American Jaguars22–13Fly-half10 (2 con, 1 pen, 1 drop)18 Oct 1980Wanderers Club, Montevideo
8. South American Jaguars30–16Fly-half6 (3 con)25 Oct 1980Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago
9. France37–15Fly-half17 (4 con, 3 pen)8 Nov 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
10. Ireland23–15Fly-half11 (1 con, 3 pen)30 May 1981Newlands, Cape Town
11. Ireland12–10Fly-half12 (1 pen, 3 drop)6 Jun 1981Kings Park, Durban
12. New Zealand9–14Fly-half5 (1 con, 1 drop)15 Aug 1981Lancaster Park, Christchurch
13. New Zealand24–12Fly-half20 (1 con, 5 pen, 1 drop)29 Aug 1981Athletic Park, Wellington
14. New Zealand22–25Fly-half10 (2 con, 2 pen)12 Sep 1981Eden Park, Auckland
15. United States38–7Fly-half6 (3 con)20 Sep 1981Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York
16. South American Jaguars50–18Fly-half15 (6 con, 1 drop)27 Mar 1982Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
17. South American Jaguars12–21Fly-half8 (1 con, 2 pen)3 Apr 1982Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
18.New Zealand Cavaliers21–15Fly-half (c)17 (1 con, 3 pen, 2 drop)10 May 1986Newlands, Cape Town
19.New Zealand Cavaliers18–19Fly-half (c)14 (1 con, 4 pen)17 May 1986Kings Park, Durban
20.New Zealand Cavaliers33–18Fly-half (c)21 (1 try, 4 con, 3 pen)24 May 1986Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
21.New Zealand Cavaliers24–10Fly-half (c)17 (1 con, 5 pen)31 May 1986Ellis Park, Johannesburg
22.World XV20–19Fly-half12 (1 try, 1 con, 2 pen)26 Aug 1989Newlands, Cape Town
23.World XV22–16Fly-half14 (1 con, 3 pen, 1 drop)2 Sep 1989Ellis Park, Johannesburg
24. New Zealand24–27Fly-half (c)9 (3 con, 1 pen)15 Aug 1992Ellis Park, Johannesburg
25. Australia3–26Fly-half (c)3 (1 pen)22 Aug 1992Newlands, Cape Town
26. France20–15Fly-half (c)10 (2 con, 1 pen, 1 drop)17 Oct 1992Stade de Gerland, Lyon
27. France16–29Fly-half (c)11 (1 con, 2 pen, 1 drop)24 Oct 1992Parc des Princes, Paris
28. England16–33Fly-half (c)11 (1 con, 2 pen, 1 drop)14 Nov 1992Twickenham, London

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

See also

References
  1. Allan, Jani (1980s). Face Value. Longstreet. pp. 80–2. ISBN 0-620-07013-7.
  2. "Who's Who of Southern Africa". 24.com. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  3. "10-12 international matches is the minimum required for any national team, says Naas Botha". Hindustan Times. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  4. http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/hendrik-botha-4580 Naas Botha Retrieved 25 June 2011
  5. Van Rooyen, Quintus (1993). Bankfin Annual 1993. SA Rugby Writers' Society. p. 209. ISBN 0620172940.
  6. Sarie interviews Botha Retrieved 5 December 2014
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