Botha: Boss of the lineout

RUAN BOTHA seems to have made a good decision a few seasons back, to leave Cape Town and join the Sharks in Durban. Not only has it led to him captaining the team to a Currie Cup final last year, and getting handed the captain’s armband for the upcoming season, but he also received a call-up to the Springbok squad.

Botha, 26, is building into a formidable player who epitomises what the Sharks are trying to do with their brand of rugby. The tall and lanky lock is both athletic and powerful, but he is also a clever player who is in line with what goes on between the four lines.

There have been a few occasions where Botha has showcased his skill with ball in hand, none more so than his charge-down try and 40-odd metre sprint to score in the closing stages of the Currie Cup last year. However, where he really comes into his own is in the tactical battle.

Botha’s real skill remains his ability to boss a lineout, he won 38 lineouts in the Currie Cup, ranked number six, and stole a total of five, which put him at number four. Botha has grown in confidence so much at the Sharks that he not only proves himself in these set pieces, but seeks out opportunities to be a menace to the opposition.

His elevation to the captaincy came as a bit of a surprise with Keegan Daniel, a famous former captain also in the squad. But in retrospect, it showed the value that the Sharks placed on their import from the Cape.

He has now not only become an irreplaceable player in the pack, but a leader among veterans such as Tendai Mtawarira and Philip van der Walt. Botha has been earmarked for the future and is taking that mantle with aplomb.

What is even more pleasing is that the weight of the captaincy has not caused the skilful lock to stutter in his performances, in fact, it is easily noticeable just how much his game has improved. He was called up to the Bok squad last year, although he never got a full cap.

Botha will undoubtedly be on the radar for the next incoming Bok coach. He has what very few locks in South Africa have at the moment, and that is a tactical understanding at the lineout.

The Boks were always at their best with a Bakkies Botha and a Victor Matfield-type combination; brains and brawn. And while there is plenty of brawn out there, Botha could well be the brains that potentially adds a new edge to the Boks, and will add a lot to the Sharks.

Botha has a Junior World Cup Winners’ medal, having been part of the winning squad of 2012. He played alongside current Boks Steven Kitshoff, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Raymond Rhule, Jan Serfontein, Dillyn Leyds, and Handre Pollard