Naas Botha
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| Full name | Hendrik Egnatius Botha | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 February 1958 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Breyten, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd | ||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fly-half | ||||||||||||||||
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| Professional / senior clubs | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1987–92 | Rugby Rovigo | 119 | (1731) |
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Correct as of 11 August 2014
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| Provincial/State sides | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1977–95 | Northern Transvaal | 179 | (2511) |
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Correct as of 11 August 2014
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| National team(s) | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1980–92 1986, 1992 |
South Africa World XV |
28 | (337) |
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Correct as of 11 August 2014
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Hendrik Egnatius Botha, commonly known as Naas Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a Northern Transvaal and Springboks former Rugby union player. He was voted Rugby Player of the Year in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. Botha mostly played in the fly-half position and is now a rugby commentator for the South African M-Net and Supersport TV channels.
Botha was born in the town of Breyten in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa and went to school at the Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd in Pretoria. As a child, Botha aspired to playing professional baseball and applied for a sport scholarship in the United States. Botha was also an excellent schools cricket and tennis player and also a hurdles athlete.
However, Botha was selected to play for the South African under-20 rugby team, where he caught the eye of the selectors while still a student at the University of Pretoria. As a result, Botha played his first Test for the Springboks on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers, Johannesburg.
Botha was best known for extremely accurate (both left- and right-footed) kicking, which earned him the nickname "Nasty Booter" from the British press when the British Lions toured South Africa in 1980. He is best remembered for his abilities as a very successful drop-kicker in high pressure situations and is also considered to have had an outstanding tactical understanding of rugby.
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