Full name | Gary van Ginkel Botha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 12 October 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Pretoria, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 106 kg (16 st 10 lb; 234 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hoërskool Waterkloof | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Gary van Ginkel Botha (born 12 October 1981 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a former rugby union player, that professionally played as a hooker between 2002 and 2013. He spent the majority of his career at his home-town team the Blue Bulls and their affiliated Super Rugby team the Bulls, but he also had spells at the Sharks, at English side Harlequins and at French Top 14 side Toulouse. He also played in 12 test matches for South Africa from 2005 to 2007. [1]
In 2015, he was appointed as a technical consultant for the Blue Bulls forwards. [2]
Botha has won the Currie Cup with the Blue Bulls, the Super 14 title with the Bulls and was part of the Springbok squad that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Botha made his debut for the Springboks in 2005, in a match against Australia at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, replacing captain John Smit.
Botha has played rugby league for the South African Rhinos at the age of 18. [3]
The Blue Bulls is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province.
Victor Matfield is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and captained the South Africa national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in Super Rugby. He is generally considered one of the best locks to have ever played for South Africa and had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha.
John Philip Botha, more commonly known as Bakkies Botha, is a South African former professional rugby union player who played as a lock. He was a member of the South Africa team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France in addition to winning two Tri Nations titles in 2004 and 2009. Botha played for RC Toulonnais in the Top 14, the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls in Super Rugby. Botha was a member of the Toulon squad which won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup Finals. He became widely associated with fellow international lock Victor Matfield for their highly successful onfield partnership with the Springboks.
Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the Golden Lions, the Blue Bulls and Western Province in South Africa, for the Bulls and the Stormers in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team.
Richard Edward "Richie" Bands is a former South African rugby union test player. He was part of the Springboks squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup and is fondly remembered in the South African rugby community for his memorable try for South Africa against the All Blacks in the 2003 Tri Nations Series.
Petrus Fourie du Preez is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls in Super Rugby between 2002 and 2011, and for Japanese Top League side Suntory Sungoliath between 2011 and 2016. He represented South Africa between 2004 and 2015, winning 76 caps, playing in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, and winning the 2007 competition.
Jacques Cronjé is a former South African rugby union footballer who played as a loose forward for the Springboks and for Racing Métro 92 Paris in the French Top 14. He is the brother of Geo Cronjé, who also played for South Africa.
Danie Coetzee is a South African rugby union footballer. His usual position is at hooker, and he has played for the Springboks. He played for the Bulls in the international Super 12 competition as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup, and played for London Irish for five seasons between 2005 and 2010, retiring in 2010.
Mahlatse Chiliboy Ralepelle, is a former rugby union player for the Sharks in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup. His usual position is at hooker.
Christoffel Johannes van der Linde is a South African former professional rugby union player and currently the scrum coach at French Top 14 side Montpellier. He played first class rugby between 2002 and 2015 in South Africa, Ireland, England and France and also made 75 test matches for South Africa, which included winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup. His usual playing position was prop.
Bismarck Wilhelm du Plessis is a South African former professional rugby union player, who played for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He played for the Free State Cheetahs in 2003, before moving to the Sharks in 2005 where he spent the bulk of his career, and then to Montpellier in the French Top 14. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best hookers of his time, both in club and country performances.
Gideon "Kees" Lensing is a former Namibian rugby union player and former head coach of the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby (MLR). He played as a prop for six different teams over more than 11 years.
Heyneke Meyer is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Leicester Tigers in England. Following his stint with the Boks, he also coached Stade Français. On 8 July 2021 he was announced as the new Director of Rugby for the Houston Sabercats of MLR.
Allen Erasmus Drotské, commonly known as Naka Drotské, is a South African former rugby union player, who played as a hooker. He played for the South Africa national team, the Springboks, 26 times between 1993 and 1999.
Juandré Kruger is a South African professional Rugby union footballer, contracted to Rugby Club Toulon in the French Top 14. His preferred position is at Lock although he has also played in the back row.
Francois Hougaard is a South African professional rugby union player. His primary position is scrum-half, but he can also play wing.
Arnoldus Francois Botha is a South African rugby union footballer for Lyon in the French Top 14. He can operate either as a flanker or number 8.
Marnitz Louis Boshoff is a South African rugby union player who usually plays as a fly-half or fullback. He plays for the Bulls in Super Rugby, the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Blue Bulls XV in the Rugby Challenge, having previously played for South African provincial sides Griquas, the Blue Bulls and the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup and for Super Rugby side the Lions. He also had a short stint with Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14.
Pieter Willem Gabriel Rossouw is a South African former professional rugby player and current coach. Rossouw played wing for Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers in the Super Rugby competition. He played a total of 43 times for the Springboks, making him one of the most capped Springbok wingers after South Africa's readmission to international rugby. He was also one of South Africa's most prolific try-scoring wingers, post-isolation, with only Breyton Paulse(26) and Bryan Habana(53) scoring more tries. He is 7th on the all-time try-scoring list for the Springboks. Rossouw is currently the backline coach of the Bulls in Super rugby and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He was known as "Slaptjips", apparently because the sight of his running legs was like potato chips slapping together. Pieter is the older brother of Chris Rossouw, who played flyhalf for Western Province and the Free State Cheetahs.
Cornelis Johannes Grobbelaar is a South African rugby union player for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. His regular position is hooker.