Bothma gets over the bad breaks

Renaldo Bothma hopes that he has put a nightmare debut season with Harlequins behind him as he builds towards a second World Cup with Namibia.

Bothma arrived at Harlequins last year with a broken arm that he sustained playing in his last match for the Bulls. He broke the same arm on his Harlequins debut in a second-team match and broke it in a different place again in January after he had managed a run of seven first team games in two months.

Bothma had a second metal plate inserted to stabilise the arm and a lengthy rehabilitation meant he could not help as Namibia clinched World Cup qualification.

“I was injured for long periods of last season so it’s good to be back in the team and playing every weekend and building my confidence back to where I was,” he said. “I am quite excited to get some run-outs.

“Unfortunately I had to make the call not to play for Namibia in the last qualification games because my arm wasn’t quite ready. It was a hard call to make but I am glad I made that decision. Everything is going well so far. I’ve got five games under my belt, we’ve got some big games in November and next year a World Cup so I am really looking forward to that.”

Bothma’s performance at blindside against Gloucester suggested his confidence and fitness are restored. The return of lock James Horwill from ankle surgery also helped Harlequins outsmart misfiring Gloucester and record their third win in five visits to Kingsholm.

“Things haven’t been going our way with all the injuries we had last season so it’s good to have all the boys back fresh and energetic and ready to play,” Bothma said.