Naas Botha
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Naas Botha (Hendrik Egnatius Botha) (born 27 February 1958) is a former Northern Transvaal and Springbok Rugby Union player. Botha mostly played in the flyhalf position. He is now a rugby commentator for the South African M-Net and Supersport TV channels.
He was born in the town of Breyten in Mpumalanga, South Africa and went to school at the Hendrik Verwoerd High School in Pretoria. He dreamed of playing baseball and even applied for an scholarship in the United States. Botha was later seleced for the Under-20s Rugby team. He played his first test for the Springbok Rugby Team on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers, Johannesburg. He played his last test on 14 November 1992 at the age of 34 as flyhalf against England at Twickenham, London.
Botha was best known for his deadly accurate boot, which earned him the nickname "Nasty Booter"; from the British press when the British Lions toured South Africa in 1980.
His tactical understanding of the game was considered as outstanding and his ability to dominate a match with his boot (both left- and right-footed) was beyond compare.
Botha was also blessed with a great pair of hands and could get a backline moving very quickly with accurate short and long range passing. While he seldom ran with the ball in the manner of a modern-day flyhalf, and avoided contact for the most part, he was a very fast runner (He held a Northern Transvaal Schools sprint record for a number of years), with a deft side step. Botha scored a considerable number of tries and contributed to many of his fellow team members tries. However, Botha will best be remembered for his abilities as an incredible drop-kicker in high pressure situations. If he had a defect it was that he was considered suspect in defence.
The former Springbok captain remained for a number of years the highest points scorer in Springbok rugby history, with a points total of 312, until July 17, 2004, when his tally was eclipsed by Percy Montgomery. Montgomery however played in many more matches. Botha only played in 28. His score would certainly have been much higher, but for many years when he was in his prime rugby-playing period South Africa was isolated from the rest of the world because of the country's apartheid policies, denying him the chance of achieving even greater success.
In addition to his Springbok rugby-playing duties, he also played for the Northern Transvaal province (nicknamed the "Blue Bulls") from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. During this period his contributions ensured that they won the Currie Cup six times. 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).
International record:
26/04/80 v South America (Jo'burg) W 24-9
03/05/80 v South America (Durban) W 18-9
31/05/80 v British Isles (Cape Town) W 26-22
14/06/80 v British Isles (B'fontein) W 26-19
28/06/80 v British Isles (P. Elizabeth) W 12-10
12/07/80 v British Isles (Pretoria) L 17-13
18/10/80 v South America (Montivideo) W 22-13
25/10/80 v South America (Santiago) W 30-16
08/11/80 v France (Pretoria) W 37-15
30/05/81 v Ireland (Cape Town) W 23-15
06/06/81 v Ireland (Durban) W 12-10
15/08/81 v New Zealand (Christchurch) L 14-9
29/08/81 v New Zealand (Wellington) W 24-12
12/09/81 v New Zealand (Auckland) L 25-22
25/09/81 v USA (Glenville) W 38-7
27/03/82 v South America (Pretoria) W 50-18
03/04/82 v South America (B'fontein) L 21-12
10/05/86 v NZ Cavaliers (Cape Town) W 21-15
17/05/86 v NZ Cavaliers (Durban) L 19-18
24/05/86 v NZ Cavaliers (Pretoria) W 33-18
31/05/86 v NZ Cavaliers (Jo'burg) W 24-10
26/08/89 v World XV (Cape Town) W 20-19
02/09/89 v World XV (Jo'burg) W 22-16
15/08/92 v New Zealand (Jo'burg) L 27-24
22/08/92 v Australia (Cape Town) L 26-3
17/10/92 v France (Lyon) W 20-15
24/10/92 v France (Paris) L 29-16
14/11/92 v England (Twickenham) L 33-16
Test Career Record: P28, W19, D, L9
Test Points: 312
Tries: 2
Penalties: 50
Conversions: 50
Drop Goals: 18