James Botham gets grief from other side of the world after Six Nations howler

Wales flanker James Botham has revealed how his costly “gut-wrenching” Six Nations mistake brought a FaceTime smirk from his famous grandfather Lord Ian Botham.

The Cardiff back-rower was partly to blame for the Darcy Graham try that turned last month’s Cardiff clash Scotland’s way and ended Welsh hopes of a first win in the tournament for three years.

Botham and wing Gabriel Hamer-Webb were caught napping from Finn Russell’s restart kick, the ball landing between the pair for Graham to nip in and score.

The 28-year-old said he has had “stick” for his error and even England cricket great Lord Botham, who is currently in Australia, joined in.

“Even grandad said something from the other side of the world. He always has a little say,” said Botham.

“I kind of knew it was coming and I was trying to avoid the call a little bit. But no, the FaceTime popped up, and I saw him, and I was like, ‘Oh, here we go!’.

“It was more the look, because I was on FaceTime, he didn’t really say too much.

“He just looked at me, kind of with his head down and smirked. I knew exactly what he was on about but, to be fair, he was very chuffed for me that I had been able to get back out there and play.”

Botham followed in the footsteps of father Liam by representing Cardiff and made his Wales debut in November 2020.

He made three appearances off the bench as Wales won the Six Nations Championship and Triple Crown in 2021.

Botham fell out of favour before being named for the 2024 Six Nations, although he was overlooked by Steve Tandy for his first squad in the autumn.

“It doesn’t feel like a year since I last played – it kind of felt like yesterday,” said Botham.

“When Steve called me, initially I thought it was a call to say I was not involved.

“So my heart sank a bit when I saw it and then he told me it was good news.

“It was an amazing feeling to get back into it, especially playing in front of that full crowd.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt and heard that kind of crowd before, because my first cap was during Covid and then we had that summer (of restricted crowds).”

Wales are big outsiders to end a record run of 14 Six Nations defeats against Ireland in Dublin on Friday.

Botham said: “I know we’ve not won for several years out there, so it’s another marker for us.

“We need to put in another performance and show what we’ve got. It’s all improvements every game, and everyone’s excited for it.”