Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has defended his selection of several "30-somethings" in the squad to do duty during the Castle Lager Incoming Series.
After a two-year absence, second row player Bakkies Botha has returned to play with the national team against Scotland.
Boks don’t cry, but there’s no shortage of emotion in the Springbok camp following the news that injured lock Bakkies Botha will be returning home.
After fears that he may not feature in the Rugby World Cup, Springbok lock Bakkies Botha has made a miraculous recovery from an Achilles injury.
Bakkies Botha will almost certainly miss SA’s rugby World Cup opener, with the Springboks further hurt by an injury concern over winger Bryan Habana.
Lock Bakkies Botha could miss the Springboks’ opening match of the Rugby World Cup against Wales because of an Achilles injury.
There’s no room for emotion in this game for giant Bulls and Springboks lock Bakkies Botha, even if it is a super rugby milestone.
Bulls players are firmly focused on the task at hand: to beat the Sharks in their Super Rugby match.
Jon Smit said it is up to the Springboks to turn around their poor start to their Tri-Nations defence after their third straight defeat on the road.
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has suggested his team have been victims of a conspiracy to assist the All Blacks ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Anger management classes are a ‘good idea’ for banned Springbok lock Bakkies Botha, says coach.
Bakkies Botha was on Sunday banned from rugby for nine weeks for headbutting All Blacks halfback Jimmy Cowan.
South Africa have received a boost with Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw declared fit for their Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand on Saturday.
The Bulls have named 14 former winners in the defending champion’s starting lineup for Saturday’s Super 14 semifinal against the Crusaders in Soweto.
Bakkies Botha will make his first appearance this year when he runs out for the Bulls in Saturday’s Super 14 match against the Sharks at Loftus.
The Bulls, refreshed from last week’s bye, look set to keep the heat on their Super 14 title chasers when they host the Highlanders on Saturday.
Springbok lock Bakkies Botha should be back on the field in five weeks time, but is in a race to be included in the Bulls’ Super 14 touring squad.
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/ 2 December 2009
Blue Bulls and Springbok lock Bakkies Botha, is going to be on the sideline for three months following an achilles injury.
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/ 11 November 2009
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has defended a decision to take his jaded stars on a three-Test tour of Europe that starts on Friday against France
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/ 28 October 2009
Blue Bulls stars Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez will mark their 50th appearances for the Bulls in Saturday’s Currie cup final.
The IRB has fined the Springboks for bringing the game into disrepute with their ‘armband’ protest during the recent British and Irish Lions tour.
John Smit hopes Bakkies Botha was being victimised when he was hit by a two-week ban. Otherwise the game of rugby could be changing, he said.
The Springboks are to appeal the two-week ban lock Bakkies Botha received for a dangerous charge on Adam Jones in the second Test on the weekend.
Springbok flanker Schalk Burger will miss the first three of South Africa’s six Tri-Nations matches after his eight-week suspension.
Bulls lock Bakkies Botha has been suspended for three Super 14 matches over an incident in the weekend game against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney.
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/ 5 November 2008
Bakkies Botha has been included in the Springbok starting line-up for the world champions’ Test against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
The Blue Bulls, known as the ”lock factory” for producing quality lock forwards over the years, are in a spot of bother.
JP Pietersen’s lack of form in the Super 14 season has cost him a place in the Springbok squad that was named in Somerset West on Wednesday. The Sharks’ World Cup-winning wing failed to score a try in the 2008 series after he finished the 2007 Super 14 season as the leading try scorer.
Isma-eel Dollie as one of a few lesser surprises in the Springbok training squad of 42 members that was named on Saturday night. The new Springbok coach, Peter de Villiers, has included a number of players who are not regulars for their Super 14 franchises or who had limited opportunities because of injury this season.
World superstar Bryan Habana dotted down twice as Super 14 title holders the Northern Bulls crushed the Central Cheetahs 60-20 in a final-round mini-league match on Saturday. However, the sole South African winners of the championship will not feature in the knockout stages after poor early-season form.
New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is spoilt for choice ahead of the Springboks’ first Test of the year, against Six Nations champions Wales on June 7 in Bloemfontein. De Villiers, who took over from World Cup-winning coach Jake White at the beginning of the year, names his first South Africa squad on Saturday.
Springbok World Cup lock Bakkies Botha has called the Blue Bulls ”tyrannical and autocratic” in court papers presented to the Labour Court this week. Botha filed the court papers in a bid to have his contracts with SA Rugby and the Bulls be declared null and void.