Bakkies Botha

John Philip Botha, better known as Bakkies Botha, was born on 22 September 1979 and played lock for South Africa professionally before retiring. He helped the Springboks win the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France and claimed Tri Nations titles in 2004 and 2009. His club career included stints with the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup, the Bulls in Super Rugby, and RC Toulonnais in the Top 14. With Toulon, he was part of the sides that won the European Rugby Champions Cup (then the Heineken Cup) in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Botha is best remembered for his long-running and highly effective lock partnership with Victor Matfield, which they shared for both the Bulls and the Springboks. Botha started with South Africa’s under-19 and under-23 teams, then played for the South African “A” side on a European tour in late 2001. He made his full Springbok debut the following year, on 9 September 2002, in a 30–10 loss to France in Marseille. Known as one of the toughest locks in world rugby, his confrontational style led to several controversial moments.

In that first match, he received a yellow card for stamping. In August 2003, he was accused of biting and eye-gouging Wallabies hooker Brendan Cannon; while the biting charge was dropped due to insufficient video evidence, and he was found not guilty of gouging, he was suspended for eight weeks for “attacking the face.” Cannon later said Botha both bit and gouged him, and Botha told The Times his ban was for an eye-gouge. In April 2009, he got a three-match ban for striking Phil Waugh in a Super 14 match.

That June, during the second test against the British & Irish Lions, Botha was banned for two weeks for a dangerous charge on Lions prop Adam Jones in a ruck, which dislocated Jones’s shoulder and required surgery. Botha’s appeal failed, and he missed the third test. Jones later said the ban was unnecessary, as the act wasn’t malicious. In that third test, the entire South African team wore armbands reading “Justice 4” (referring to Botha’s jersey number) in support, prompting the International Rugby Board to charge the South African Rugby Union with bringing the game into disrepute.

In May 2010, Botha was suspended for four weeks after a dangerous clearout of wing Gio Aplon during a Bulls–Stormers Super 14 game—his first match as Bulls captain—causing him to miss the playoffs. On 10 July 2010, in the first test of the Tri Nations against New Zealand, he received a nine-week ban for head-butting All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan, ruling him out of the rest of that series. Botha won three Currie Cup finals with the Bulls (2002, 2004, 2009) and three Super Rugby titles with them (2007, 2009, 2010).

With Toulon, he added three European titles (2013, 2014, 2015) and a Top 14 championship in 2014. Nicknamed “the enforcer” and “the butcher,” he is often called one of the dirtiest players of the professional era, though journalist Mark Keohane argued his international disciplinary record wasn’t among the very worst. Coach Bernard Laporte described him as the greatest player he ever coached.