Bakkies’ long road to redemption
14 Jul 2010
Upon his return to Test rugby, Bakkies Botha will need to prove to his country and team-mates why he’s no longer a disciplinary liability.
There’s no excuse for foul play, especially since a punch off the ball, an eye-gouge at the bottom of a ruck and a headbutt in back play don’t go unnoticed in the professional era. This is not the old days when TV had no influence and such combat was considered part and parcel of the game.
Test players don’t just compete in front of sell-out crowds, but in front of millions of viewers around the globe. The sport generates big money, and while the players have a responsibility to their employers, they also have a responsibility to ensure that they don’t send out the wrong message to rugby’s next generation.
It’s been four days since Bakkies Botha headbutted Jimmy Cowan in the opening minute of the Test between New Zealand and South Africa. It’s been three since the Springbok lock was banned for nine weeks. The last three days have witnessed an apology by Botha to his team, country and family, as well as various media and public responses to an unacceptable example of barbarism.
In his latest act of contrition on live TV, Botha gave a tearful apology for what he did to Cowan. There’s no doubt that he regrets what he did.
Botha’s headbutt has evoked emotional reactions from the South African media and public. Most believe he should be banned for longer than nine weeks, while some international scribes, in describing the latest incident as yet another in a series of off-the-ball fouls, think Botha should be banned for good.
Some, like Bok coach Peter de Villiers, have blamed the New Zealand’s Sky TV producers for repeating the incident over and over on the Eden Park big screen, but neglecting to show what prompted Botha to attack. De Villiers’ show of support has been commended by his followers, but there’s no logic in his argument.
If referee Alan Lewis had seen Cowan holding Botha’s jersey, he would have penalised the All Blacks scrumhalf. If he had heard from his touch judge, who was in a good position to see the incident, after play had broke down, he would have penalised Cowan. But would that have made it OK for Botha to headbutt Cowan? And does an official’s failure to see a transgression give a player the right to dish out his own justice? Surely not.
Botha’s act must be condemned, but it should be condemned for the act that it is. He got off light with a nine-week ban. Players often cop a suspension for spear-tackling, and as has been the case with Botha, an illegal clearance at the ruck. These players are suspended for inaccuracy as much as excessive aggression. They are still trying to make a tackle or a clearance, which is part of the game, but are banned when they get it wrong.
A punch, a headbutt or an eye-gouge is not part of the game. It’s a deliberate act intended to hurt the opposition. It’s inexcusable. You can’t say you were trying to do something that was within the laws but failed in your accuracy. If you use your head, your fists or your fingers, you have only one outcome in mind.
Now that the emotion that erupted on Saturday has died down, people need to consider these cold hard facts. Yes Botha was suspended twice in the last year for what was perceived as an illegal clearance at a ruck. Did that make him a dirty player? No. Botha’s now been suspended for headbutting. Does that make him a player who resorts to such violent acts? By the video evidence of the incident, the answer is yes, although his previous offences for clearing players at the ruck should not factor into the judgment.
Botha’s sorry, but the nature of the transgression means it’s not so easy to forgive and forget. There’s a reason he’s celebrated as South Africa’s enforcer and not because he headbutts the opposition off the ball. He can still offer the Boks a physical option within the laws of the game, but it will be difficult to shrug the image he’s created.
Another question that people may be dying to have answered is why now? How can a player as decorated and experienced as Botha be guilty of such a thoughtless and violent act, an act far beyond big tackles and rough clearances?
This wasn’t an out-of-sight headbutt, but a vicious nudge delivered in plain sight. As one of the team’s leaders, what was he thinking? In the early part of his career, Botha resisted the urge to give those arrogant halfbacks George Gregan and Justin Marshall a clout, so why succumb after one instance of jersey-tugging by Cowan?
Some feel that it’s because he’s celebrated as the team’s enforcer that you can’t blame him for robust behaviour, but again, there’s no point in blaming the media for the perception. Botha’s the one admitting to goosebumps on the eve of a particularly physical Test, and he’s the one responsible for his own actions on the field.
He must now accept the fact that his reputation will be tarnished by this one incident, and that he will have a lot to prove to his team-mates and country upon his return. His fantastic service to the Boks won’t be forgotten because of one incident, but he will spend the rest of his career proving that he’s not a dirty player, and that he’s not a disciplinary liability.
Botha’s been punished and shown remorse, but his greatest challenge on his return will be proving himself worthy of a place in team that’s worked so hard to eradicate an image of indiscipline.
By Jon Cardinelli
239 Comments
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14 Jul 2010, 20:57 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-199:
Ive seen him play the ABs atleast 2-3 times at HQ. Never stood out other than for his brain-implosions.
OK, I’ll say he was ‘good’, but only if you insist. Yep, he had decent hands. May have been a better blindside if not for the superb R.Hill. But, cmon, ‘great’ ? lets not bandy that word around toooo freely, lets reserve that for the very very few. Id take Shaw over Grewcock any day.
Remind me what happened with The Dogger again ?
14 Jul 2010, 21:00 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-197: I dont usually pay him any mind BP, just not worth it..
hes the sort of bloke you see at the back of the white mini-van licking windows as it drives past I imagine.
14 Jul 2010, 21:04 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-198:
Actually, you’re right – Shaw on the 76 tour, Kirkpatrick on the 1970 one.
Must tell you a story. 1976 my brother was driving home with mates after a night p issing it up and was going past the Marine Hotel in PE to see a guy hitchhiking. So he stopped to pick him up. The guy wanted to join some lady company on the other side of town.
Yeah, you guessed it, the one and only Bryan Williams – ended up buying my boet a couple of beers for his trouble.
14 Jul 2010, 21:13 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-203:
he went
to the
lokasie
?
14 Jul 2010, 21:15 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-202:
hearty chuckle, what an image you planted in my head !
14 Jul 2010, 21:15 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-200:
Hi poppa.
Don’t know if you remember a cetain Piet Greyling from that 1970 tour – I know Piet – very modest man, successful in business.
But I’ve heard it said, if he tackled you, you stay tackled.
14 Jul 2010, 21:17 pm
@Porra the Fat and Clever Speedster(Porra)-204:
you
crack
me up
every
time
14 Jul 2010, 21:20 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-203:
nice one. BeeGee sure made his name in SA. A real softly spoken Sah, most of them are until they cross the white line. Worst place-kicker Ive ever ever seen, how we laughed.
14 Jul 2010, 21:24 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-206: Hi Stormer
heard the name but only from what Ive read… I was but a very very young man during that tour.
14 Jul 2010, 21:25 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-208:
He couldn’t kick a cat off the porch.
14 Jul 2010, 21:33 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-210:
you just made me think of my Dad – cheers !
He was a dairy farmer. Loved all animals, hated cats.
14 Jul 2010, 21:35 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-209:
me too – but was Chairman of one my clients – till he retired – still love listening to those old story’s when you go out to lunch.
and you didn’t dare wear your Bok supporter jersey when in his suite at Ellis Park. He’d come up to you and say ” so which year did you play for the Boks?”
Never happened to me – i was forewarned – but i witnessed it – he felt two feet tall.
14 Jul 2010, 21:49 pm
This incident has gelded Bakkies. His “enforcer” days are over for good. Won’t ever be the same menace again.
14 Jul 2010, 21:51 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-213:
A leopard doesn’t change his stripes!!
14 Jul 2010, 21:53 pm
Looks like Roko is out for Welly, only given a 10% chance recovery from strained hammy. So Ranger will come in. He gives me the complete sh*ts as a centre, pushed too many unnecessary Hail Mary passes, but with some freedom to zone in on the corners from wing, he could be sensational. Bizarre that Boks have persevered with JdV on the wing, esp with a similar excitement machine like Aplon fit to play. No doubt the same kick’n'chase tactics coming from the Boks…..zzzzzzzzz. Thank God Mils is back, Dagg was a spilled catch waiting to happen.
14 Jul 2010, 22:01 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-215:
Very nervous ahead of Sat.
Boks, for whatever reason, have a penchant for playing guys out of position.
JDV has now gone on record as saying he wants his no. 12 shirt back – that places pressure on both JDV and WO – i put money on Jean to win this little battle.
WO will be found out again unfortunately.
And Kirchner – well you can’t just do the basics right at test level – you’ve got to do a lot more – that’s why you’re there.
14 Jul 2010, 22:06 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-213: not sure, it might actually force him to focus on the rugby instead of dishing out extras.
14 Jul 2010, 22:12 pm
Backline for Saturday should be:
9. Ruan
10.Morne
11.Habs
12.JdV
13.JF
14.Gio
15.Zane (unless they could fly Steyn in, which they won’t)
14 Jul 2010, 22:21 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-218:
Mate, that’s your wish list.
We’ve got to support the team the coach puts on the field.
Nothing else matters – you and I have no influence whatsoever.
14 Jul 2010, 22:27 pm
Cheers all – I’m out of here.
Till tomorrow.
14 Jul 2010, 22:40 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-214: Never seen a striped leopard yet. Tigers a-plenty, but all my leopards have been spotty.
14 Jul 2010, 22:46 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-221:
you had
quite
a few
then
but i
think
it’s
more
a case
of you
being
potty
14 Jul 2010, 23:49 pm
Jimmy cowan on twitter (@jimmy_says) tweeted “Botha; a true saffer headbutts from the front” wowow jimmy. Now I remember why I like Piri better.
14 Jul 2010, 23:51 pm
@Partizan(Partizan)-223:
He probably thought he was being funny/ironic.
Im not sure Piri is any smarter, to be honest. tee hee, bro.
15 Jul 2010, 00:02 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-216:
I thought Kirchner did OK at EP, probably the only back who could say so. He’s not going to be a star but, then, with your 15 you dont need them to be just as long as theyre doing their basics, ie catch everything and tackle everything. Keiran Crowley filled that role admirably for the ABs some years back. They cant all be a Cullen or a Joubert. Seems to be alot invested in Frans being the Miracle Man but outside of the massive boot, he doesnt rrrrrreally offer too much more than Kirchner altho clearly has the BMT. Dont forget he’s also playing 12 or 10 at Racing so he’d be playing out of position at 15 too. Atleast Kirchner is a specialist FB, key at Test level.
Im 100% sure we’ll see an entirely different Bok performance. It will be a massive match, and the passion will be there. The only reservation is that with the same selection, injuries aside, they look to be playing the same gameplan, kick’n'chase. At which stage I must concur with King Skop and say that only another massive thumping will teach them the error of their ways, it seems. Im delighted the ABs are sticking with their running instincts, its their natural game and what suits the selection best. But there is alot more balance from the ABs so far this season compared to the harum scarum of last season.
kia kaha
15 Jul 2010, 00:43 am
I know getting headbutted front behind would probably warrant a snide comment but Piri is just more down to earth. He’s a solid boytjie, I’ve always liked him
15 Jul 2010, 04:30 am
Peter Bills, writing for The Independent in London, opines thus…
“For make no mistake, Botha is facing a major crisis in his sporting life. His whole rugby future is in the balance; will he play much more for the Springboks?
Exactly why the Bulls colossus finds himself in this parlous position is a question that should be addressed to the authorities at the Bulls and the South African Rugby Union (SARU).
For the fact is, this was no one-off, out-of-character incident of thuggery by Botha. There have been too many – far too many – in recent years for his or South African rugby’s own good and image.
The problem has been that some fool somewhere once dubbed Bakkies “The Enforcer” and the moniker has stuck. South Africans have loved that absurd title and all that it suggests. Botha, I suspect, has started to believe he must live up to it. With disastrous consequences.”
15 Jul 2010, 06:23 am
Make no mistake, that is just the usual pom journo getting his 2 pence in, doesn’t mean jackshit.. Every successful team has their enforcer. Stephen Jones will slick his pants with glee at this.
15 Jul 2010, 06:35 am
Yep, he is a colossal imposing figure of a man and ‘The Enforcer’ he certainly is.
Understandably those countries with ‘small man syndrome’ will find hulking South African boys intimidating.
Any excuse to kick the beast while he is down…law of the jungle and all that.
15 Jul 2010, 07:32 am
@Partizan(Partizan)-228: It’s what influential foreigners think not only of Bakkies, but of SA rugby in general. And Peter Bills has for many years been a great friend of SA rugby and is, generally, very well disposed and very well-informed about it. To lump him in with rugby’s dyspeptic shock-jock Stephen Jones is as unfair as lumping Bakkies Botha in with Eugene Terre’Blanche as they’re both Afrikaners. But that’s yet another yarpie weakness — lumping all critics and their criticism together, regardless of motive or merit.
15 Jul 2010, 09:39 am
Bakkies will travel to the World Cup and will continue to be a Bok until he retires from interantional rugby. Get over it and move on to the next battle. I can’t actually believe this side show over Bakkies. All the pious antipodeans with their holier than thou attitude as if any of their players have never transgressed. Moreover, whilst Bakkies may have transgressed on the field (over and over agian) Australian and New Zealand players have been known to transgress off the field too. Nobody’s perfect (Bakkies certianly is far from) but at the end of the day that’s the way he plays his rugby. He transgresses he gets punished and he does his time. The authorities have spoken and we need to respect that and move on.
15 Jul 2010, 10:40 am
Bakkies is reliably good for reducing his team to 14 men for ten minutes. Everybody now knows how to press the AWOL button of any team he plays for. He’s a liability.
15 Jul 2010, 12:08 pm
@kesbok(kesbok)-231:
This is true. Boers are known to bully, intimidate and generally terrify their gentically weaker cousins on the rugby arena and it is our cross to bear. Boohooo!
Now our Australasian brethren true to form, prefer to do their fighting in the pubs and bars…true to their cultural heritage.
15 Jul 2010, 12:44 pm
Or, in Lord Percy Percivals’ case, in the sanctity of his own house.
15 Jul 2010, 12:51 pm
@Predawn (Great White Shark)(Predawn)-233: hmmmm yep, the Abs were shaking in their boots last week..
did RJ get into a fight after his maccas??
@kesbok(kesbok)-231: pious antipodeans? so P3s transgressions were on the field or off, I do know he had white line fever?
wasnt Bekker caught in a public park (well its close to a field isnt it?)…
etc etc etc
15 Jul 2010, 12:52 pm
Talking about houses, apparently it’s not a good idea to live near Quade Cooper.
15 Jul 2010, 12:53 pm
..and he’s Kiwi born..
15 Jul 2010, 12:57 pm
@Predawn (Great White Shark)(Predawn)-237: your bitterness is showing, whats the matter, cant be all windgat this week like normal huh?
that has to be the loudest come down to earth thump Ive heard in a while… classic!
15 Jul 2010, 18:58 pm
I haven’t read all the posts, but what “return”? We surely are not going to pick this thug again? We don’t need him. The game is bigger than any individual and the Boks will do just fine. Let’s forget about Bakkies. Mind you, PdV keeps making excuses for him,so I guess it’s just wishful thinking on my part. Danie Rossouw is the guy to pick. Plays his heart out. Hey, and I’m a WP fan to boot.
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