Naas Botha – The Perfect 10

The Golden Boy of South African Rugby

Naas Botha played rugby on his own terms. To this day he still divides opinion among the South African rugby public. You either loved or hated Naas Botha, there was no grey area. The reason for this? He was a match winner and he either did it for your team, or against your team. What cannot be argued is that Botha was a true rugby genius, Doc Craven said so himself.

As a young boy, obsessed with rugby, no other player really mattered to me. I grew up at Loftus, my dad had season tickets until I was in Matric and it was the absolute highlight of my week. I could spend quality time with my old man and I could watch my hero in action. Every day I would do one of two things; either watch old rugby videos or play rugby, against myself, in our back garden in Roodepoort. I had the same blonde hair and being a Blue Bulls fan, I always imagined I was Naas Botha kicking the All Blacks to pieces. I turned out to be an average rugby player, but there was one thing I could do well and that was kick… Below is a photo of me and my older brother in our Springbok gear, ready to take on the All Blacks around 1986/1987.

There’s a reason Northern Transvaal fans were so crazy about Botha, he was a winner and he had a big impact on how much the Northern Transvaal team won between 1977 and 1992. We like winners and you will see Loftus full when the Bulls are winning. It was no different during the 1980’s.

The early days

Naas Botha was born on 26 February 1958 in a small town called Breyten, but he completed his schooling in Pretoria at Hendrik Verwoerd. He was a multi talented athlete who excelled in softball, tennis, hurdles and of course, rugby.

The buzz started in 1977 when everyone took notice of the young blonde general playing under 19 rugby for Northern Transvaal. The coach at that time was Buurman van Zyl, the legendary Northern Transvaal coach. Oom Buurman took notice and after being selected for the South African under 20 side, Botha was quickly drafted into the Northern Transvaal senior team, rubbing shoulders with giants of the game like Thys Lourens and Moaner van Heerden.

His star continued to shine and after a brilliant performance in the 1979 Currie Cup final, Botha set himself up for what would be his real breakthrough year in 1980.

The 1980 rugby season was an oasis in the rugby drought called isolation. Nine tests was played and Botha featured in all of them. He made his debut against the South American Jaguars at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on 26 April 1980. He made an immediate impact and scored a drop goal in his first couple of seconds of international rugby. Just a taste of things to come.

The Boks won without too much effort against the South Americans and it was valuable match practice for the real test, a four match series against Billy Beaumont’s British & Irish Lions team. Botha was absolutely brilliant against the Lions and such was his brilliance that it didn’t take the British press too long to come up with a nickname for him; “Nasty Booter“. Naas also showed how calm he could be under pressure. With the Boks 2-0 up after good wins in Cape Town and Bloemfontein, the Boks had to win the third test in Port Elizabeth to avenge the series loss in 1974. We were trailing 6-10 in pouring rain when quick thinking by Gerrie Germishuys and Theuns Stofberg resulted in a try in left hand corner. It was ten all and Botha had to kick the conversion, from touch, in pouring rain and with a heavy wet leather ball to seal the series for the Boks. He hit it low and hard and it sailed through to win the match and the series for the Boks. This was just the first of many games Botha won with a difficult kick.

1980 was also the year in which Botha was selected as captain of the Northern Transvaal team. It was quite unusual for a 22 year old to be made captain, but Northern made the final that year and hosted Western Province in the final. With Botha leading the charge, the Blue Bulls won 39 – 9, still a record margin in a Currie Cup final.

The next season Botha again won the Currie Cup with Northern Transvaal and he played in all six test matches that year. The first two was against Ireland and in the second test the Springboks struggled to dominate. Botha kicked three drop goals to win the game for South Africa.

The tour to New Zealand in 1981 was again an opportunity for Botha to show the world what he is capable of and two games stand out, the match against Auckland where he scored two great tries and of course, the second test in Wellington where he scored 20 points to steer the Boks to a famous 24 – 12 victory to tie up the series.

Botha always conducted himself as a professional, even in an amateur game and in 1982 he got the opportunity to play professional sport when he was scouted to play American Football in the NFL. Botha played for the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots before returning to South Africa at the end of 1984. It took some fine work from Dr. Danie Craven to get Botha his status as an amateur back, but he did and between 1985 and 1989, Naas Botha was at his peak.

In his prime

Botha was named SA Rugby player of the year in 1985 and in 1986 he got the opportunity to captain the Springboks against the touring New Zealand Cavaliers. In the third test at Loftus Versfeld, Botha scored his first test try and as expected, the crowd went ballistic. The Boks won the series 3 – 1 and many people felt that South Africa would have been very strong contenders for the Webb Ellis trophy if they had the opportunity to play in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. It wasn’t to be, but Botha played in another final in 1987. In my humble opinion, the 1987 Currie Cup final was Botha’s greatest game he ever played. Transvaal were the hot favourites the win the Cup at home and were leading half time. Botha’s instructions to his team at half time was “Give me the ball”. The pack delivered and he ensured his team played on the front foot for the rest of the match. He kicked four penalties and four drop goals in pouring rain and at times hail to help his side to victory. The final score: Naas 24 – Transvaal 18.

Norther Transvaal again won the Currie Cup in 1988 and shared it with Western Province in 1989. Botha played in two tests against the touring World XV and scored a nice intercept try in the first test at Newlands.

In 1990, Northern Transvaal dominated the local rugby scene and easily topped the Currie Cup log. They would play Natal in the final who punched above their weight in their centenary year. Northerns beat Natal easily in a Percy Frames match at Loftus two weeks before the final, so the expectation was that they would walk away with the gold… To this day I cannot tell you what went wrong. Pieter Nel hurt his leg while running onto the field before kick off and that was probably an omen. Take nothing away from Natal, they deserved the win as they were the better side on the day. After the match Naas famously said: “Noord-Transvaal sal volgende jaar weer in die finaal wees, maar ek twyfel of Natal in die finaal sal wees, want dis ‘n ander ding om ‘n kampioen te wees en ‘n kampioen te bly. Natal moet bewys hy is ‘n kampioen deur daardie beker weer te wen. ‘n One off? Vergeet dit…“.

Botha predicted the events of 1991 correctly and Northern Transvaal again won the Currie Cup with him as captain against Transvaal at Loftus Versfeld.

His final bow

1992 would be Botha’s last full season as a player in South Africa and he was appointed Springbok captain against New Zealand in our return match at Ellispark on 15 August 1992. Things didn’t go that well for the Springboks in 1992, only winning one out of five tests, against France in Lyon.

In 1993 he played an invitation game for a Northern Transvaal XV against a World XV and in 1995 he made a brief comeback. I remember the newspapers reporting that 2000 people gathered at B field of Loftus to watch Botha’s comeback in a club game. He played his final first class match for a Danie Craven XV against a World XV in Stellenbosch in 1995.

Botha was more than just a points machine. His tactical understanding of the game was outstanding and his ability to dominate a match with the boot beyond compare. He read the game better than anyone and continuously kept the opposition on the back foot. Botha had natural talent, but what gave him the edge was the amount of effort he put into practice. He was the first to arrive and once all the players have left, he would still practice his goal kicking.

Botha wasn’t just a kicking fly-half and to place him in that box is inaccurate. He had fantastic hands and an awesome ability to get the back line away and to pass to the right player. The reason people tend to remember him as a kicking fly-half is because he kicked better than anyone. I doubt whether Carel du Plessis, Danie Gerber, Ray Mordt and Jaco Reinach would have scored so many tries for the Boks if Botha never passed. What also set him apart was his ability to make the right decision on the field. He knew when to run, when to kick and when to pass.

Botha will also be remembered for his uncanny ability as a drop kicker. In the wink of an eye he could change the course of a game with a beautifully struck drop goal, and trying to defend against it was impossible given his ability to make the snap drop-kick without warning and with either foot. In one match against Natal in 1992, he dropped five goals, the first South African to do so.

During Botha’s 15 year career, Northern Transvaal won the Currie Cup six times. He captained the province a record 128 times and scored a record 2 511 points, including 1 699 points in the Currie Cup. He played 28 tests for the Springboks and scored 312 points.

In 2015, Naas Botha was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. A fitting tribute to the greatest match winner South Africa has ever produced.

Thank you Naas for all the memories, from that young boy kicking a leather ball barefoot in the backyard.

Below is a compilation video of Naas Botha at his best, we hope you enjoy!