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Rival No.8 who broke limb 3 times offers advice as plate inserted into Vunipola's arm
Billy Vunipola has undergone surgery to repair the arm he broke for a second time in England’s losing test series with South Africa and now faces another long period of rehabilitation.
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It is understood Vunipola had a plate inserted in the arm last week after breaking it in the same place in the second test loss to the Springboks and Renaldo Bothma, the Harlequins No8, knows exactly what the Saracens No8 is going through having broken his arm three times last season.
Bothma, 28, believes Vunipola will come back mentally stronger despite the massive frustration of having to follow exactly the same recovery plan again.
Bothma is training with Quins and is aiming to join up with the Namibia squad in August to help them secure qualification for next year’s World Cup in Japan by playing against Kenya and Zimbabwe. Namibia hammered Tunisia 118-0 at the weekend and are on course to make a sixth consecutive appearance in the Cup.
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Bothma said: “I know what Billy is going through and I had an operation the second time because it was a clean break which meant putting in a plate and I now have a bit of a bionic arm with a second plate in it as well. It will be tough for him because it is not a good experience breaking your arm again and hopefully a plate will ensure it doesn’t break again.
“It is always a tricky one and I wish him all the best for his recovery and he will get through it and come back stronger because he is a great player. What is tough is repeating that rehab process again and I had to do it three times, but that is rugby and it makes you a stronger person mentally.
“The first time I broke it last season the damage was a hairline fracture which then healed, but I then broke it at the same place and had a plate inserted and the third was a new break at the end of the plate.
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“They were in all different kinds of situations when I broke my arm; the first was making a normal tackle, then I was injured carrying the ball and the third was handing someone off and there wasn’t anything common thing and I believe it was just bad luck. Hopefully, it is all over and done with having had three in a row and we are starting with a clean sheet.
“Mentally, it is very tough because you have a rehab period of 12-14 weeks and then I did it again and so you go through the process once again and then a third time.
“It has been very challenging but getting married and setting up my own DIY business allowed me to concentrate on things away from rugby and get my head in a good place. I am very positive.”
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Like Vunipola, appearing in the 2019 World Cup is the ultimate target and Bothma, who has 15 test appearances, is eager to add his considerable weight to the Namibian cause. “I was named in the Namibian squad for these matches but withdrew temporarily to get sorted and to be here working with our new head coach ( Paul Gustard). There will be an evaluation of my fitness to see if I will ready for the important Namibia tests against Kenya and Zimbabwe in August for World Cup qualifying.
“That would mean two games under my belt and then straight into the Premiership season with Quins and I just want to get back on the pitch.
“Qualification would mean joining a World Cup pool with New Zealand again and also South Africa which would be a cracker and we want to make history with a first Cup win. Japan beating the Boks in the last World Cup showed that anyone can produce a victory and we are always the underdogs but we are dangerous. This is our strongest squad leading up to a World Cup.”
Bothma is desperate to put a run of games together for Quins as a belated “thank you” to John Kingston, the former director of rugby who brought him into the Premiership but then lost his job after a poor season. “ John Kingston brought me over from South Africa to help in his plans and I do feel bad for JK. But this is a new season with a new coach and I want play well and honour JK for putting his trust in me.
“Harlequins were spending so much money on my operations that I decided I had better start up a DIY business so I could source the materials myself for the operations!”
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments