| Full name | Arnoldus Francois Botha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1991-10-26)26 October 1991 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nylstroom,Transvaal,Republic of South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 108 kg (17.0 st; 238 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Nylstroom High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arnoldus Francois Botha (born 26 October 1991) is a South Africanrugby union footballer for Lyon in the French Top 14. His position is eitherflanker ornumber 8.
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Botha began primary school at Laerskool Messina before moving to Nylstroom. He was captain of the rugby first team of Hoërskool Nylstroom for 2 years and he represented Limpopo at the Craven Week competitions in 2008 and 2009.
He represented theBulls inSuper Rugby and theBlue Bulls in theCurrie Cup andVodacom Cup.[1][2] In 2013, he signed a contract extension to keep him at theBlue Bulls until 2016.[3]
He was captain of theSouth Africa Under 20 team that competed in the2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy and was also named South Africa Under 20 player of the year.[4][5][6]
Botha made his debut for theSpringboks againstItaly on 8 June 2013 atKings Park Stadium inDurban as the No. 7 flank.[7] In his second test againstScotland on 15 June 2013 inNelspruit, Botha left the field after four minutes of play, having ruptured ligaments in his left knee.[8]
In 2016, Botha was included in aSouth Africa 'A' squad that played atwo-match series against a touringEngland Saxons team.[9] He didn't play in their first match inBloemfontein,[10] but started the second match of the series, a 26–29 defeat inGeorge.[11]
In January 2018, he joinedEnglish Premiership sideLondon Irish.[12]
Botha joined IrishPro14 sideMunster on a one-year contract for the 2018–19 season.[13] He made his competitive debut on 1 September 2018, starting atnumber 8 in their opening2018–19 Pro14 fixture against South African sideCheetahs inThomond Park, a game which Munster won 38–0.[14] Botha scored his first try for Munster in the provinces 49–13 win againstOspreys on 14 September 2018.[15] Botha made hisChampions Cup debut for Munster on 20 October 2018, coming off the bench in the provinces 36–22 win against English sideGloucester inpool 2. He signed a one-year contract extension with Munster in December 2018.[16]
Botha was shown ared card for foul play in the 81st minute of Munster's 10–3 win against English sideSaracens on 7 December 2019, and was subsequently banned for three weeks.[17] He scored ahat-trick of tries in Munster's 68–3 win against South African sideSouthern Kings in round 11 of the2019–20 Pro14 on 14 February 2020.[18]
Botha returned to South Africa to joinBlue Bulls in July 2020,[19] and was part of the team that won back-to-backCurrie Cup's in2020 and2021.[20][21][22]