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Bakkies Botha has never forgotten his crude welcome to Top 14 rugby at the bottom of a ruck in Biarritz

By Online Editors
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Ex-Springboks enforcer Bakkies Botha has shed light on his remarkably bizarre introduction to the Top 14, the second row on the receiving end of an unforgettably crude incident when making his Toulon debut away at Biarritz. Botha thrived on his reputation as a hard man who thought he had seen and experienced it all, but what happened at Parc des Sports Aguilera showed that he hadn’t. 

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Taking up the story about the December 2011 game in the south-west of France, the World Cup winner told Midi Olympique: “It was winter, there was fighting and I was busy in an open scrum. I had a knee on the ground. I had just finished a counter-ruck or something like that… suddenly, I felt something come into my butt. I yelled: ‘What’s going on here?’

“I lost control. I left the two guys I was fighting with on the ground, I straightened up and behind me, the first guy I saw was my team-mate Sebastien Tillous-Borde. I thought to myself, ‘What’s going on in this country exactly?’”

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Botha thought that his scrum-half had wanted to speed up the release of the ball and his only way of doing that was to get the second row out of the way at the ruck by putting a finger up the South African’s butt. “I thought he was crazy. I jostled him, opened my hand and put a pie on him. In his gaze, I saw that he didn’t understand what I was doing.

“On the bus, he came and asked me, ‘What happened, Bakkies? Why did you do that?’ I replied: ‘But you are crazy. You can’t put your damn finger in my butt and think nothing will happen.’ Sebastien exploded with laughter.

“When I got to Toulon, I asked Bernard (Laporte) to watch the video of the match. I dissected the action and there, on the ground, I saw this damn Marconnet (Sylvain Marconnet, the Biarritz prop) lying next to me and I saw him stick his finger in my butt. 

“I couldn’t believe it. I said to myself: ‘This cursed Marconnet, he immediately found the target. My God, he must have done this kind of thing dozens of times’. I had just got to know French rugby!”

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Touching someone in their private parts on a rugby pitch made headlines only recently in the Six Nations, England’s Joe Marler getting banned for ten weeks after touching the testicles of Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones. “I like Alun-Wyn Jones, he’s a good fighter,” said Botha. 

“And I also like Marler. I’ve read some of these interviews, it’s very funny. He is a real character and his gesture did not really surprise me. But we can no longer tolerate this kind of thing on a rugby field. Society no longer allows it. In the eyes of some people, it’s not funny.”

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Trevor 1 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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