Why Ettienne Botha will never be forgotten

Thursday September 08 2005
Pieter Jordaan, a life-long Bulls fan from Potchefstroom, tells us why Ettienne Botha will never be forgotten. Of course, you have the and we will publish more tributes as they arrive.

Botha: We will remember him

Ettienne Botha's sudden death certainly shocked the rugby community. The news of his death greeted me as a life-long Bulls fan with the same amount of shock that many people felt with the announcement of Diana's death.

As one of certainly many rugby-mad people in the country I follow the game so intensely that the players, their personalities, their playing styles etc. become aspects that we follow in the media, see and interpret on the playing field, and discuss with our mates to make our own conclusions.

With so many good players around, players often come and go and then become forgotten. Botha, though left something behind that will remain in our memories forever.

I first saw him play at the 1997 Craven Week in Kimberley for the Falcons, and already put a mark behind his name after seeing this certain 'E. Botha' play 30 minutes.

The next time I saw him was when he and Adrian Jacobs started to make headlines at the Falcons, but when the Bulls signed him I was somewhat sceptic, because he seemed too much of a replica to his predecessor at the Bulls, Tiaan Joubert, who failed to impress (A short, stocky centre, with quick feet and apparent playmaker skills. Big centres like the Sharks' Trevor Halstead seemed like the way forward).

This Botha lad though had another deceiving dimension to his play, and opponents soon realized it.

Always criticized by disbelieving critics for his size (he stood up to any opponent), his speed (his speed off the mark made up for it), and his defence (always called a bad defensive centre, never proven so), Botha seemed to hush critics every week he played.

Very much like Gebrand Grobler in die 90's, this player just seemed to be out of favour with nationals coaches because of what they thought he wouldn't be able to do at national level (despite being able to do it at all other levels). And much like Grobler, those national coaches will probably greet his death by saying how he would've been part of their plans for the future.

Even so, he did perhaps deserve to be called unorthodox. But he had something no other had, something that would make him the best Blue Bull-centre of the modern era. His balanced running had a strange look about it, but his ability to also run defenders off balance, and run terrific angles was splendid.

Also a centre that almost benefited in games where there wasn't any structured backline play. Broken play was Ettienne Botha's food. His ability to throw his upper body one way, and make his hips swerve the other way was to my mind the most deceiving swerve in world rugby (better than O'Driscoll, Robinson, Russell etc) that caused him to be the top try scorer in the 2004 Currie Cup, as well as the Currie Cup player of the season.

He also had a trusty left foot the always took pressure of his fly-half.

He will be remembered though for not being picked for the Boks unfortunately, and for not fitting into coaches game plans, and yet he mesmerized De Wet Barry on more than one occasion, with the latter never being able to outshine Botha in a contest.

But Ettienne Botha, has become a folk hero at Loftus, and the next generations will certainly hear the older people talk about him with nostalgia. I was always glad that the Bulls had him as a No.12, and not Barry, Halstead, Muller and all the other types of centres. Young Wynand Olivier does have certain similarities in his play though and should take Botha's role as playmaker.

What did he leave behind though. Well, for me as a fanatic, there remains flashes of sudden breaks through the midfield with a change of angle that stops a defender without even attempting a tackle. A true match winner.

Two Botha tries to bury the Sharks in the 2003 Currie Cup Final.

A blistering inside swerve past the Cheetahs fullback and an arm held aloft sensing another Currie Cup victory.

And most of all for me, a breakaway from inside his own 22 to carve open the mighty Crusaders at Loftus for an Akona Ndungane try, and a numb-struck Stormers backline, totally overwhelmed by his unpredictable play (the 75-14 game).

I was lucky to see him do a similar break in what would've been his last game, against the Leopards at Loftus, though it didn't lead to a try.

In fact, I was lucky to see him play at all. Any one who saw him was. He was a once off, an entertainer, the glorified underdog that made people say the name Ettienne Botha with admiration.

And lastly, a guy that always seemed to enjoy the game, never part of pre- or post match war of words, never turning his back on coaches who turn their back on him, always seeming to play because he loved the game.

A real loss to rugby. Ettienne Botha killed the 'predictable backline'-stigma that the Bulls carried for many, many years.

Condolences to his family and friends.

* Ettienne Botha will be laid to rest on Monday, September 12, at 11.00 from the Sunwood Park Church in Boksburg.