Mouritz Botha (born 29 January 1982) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played for the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

. He joined English club

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. History Foundation and 19th century Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...

in 2006 and made 73 appearances before moving to

in 2009. Botha was named in the 2011

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerg ...

squad for the Churchill Cup after qualifying for England on residency grounds. He was forced to retire on 30 September 2017, on medical advice related to concussion.

Bedford Blues

Botha joined

from Bedford Athletic in 2006 and was a mainstay in the team. Botha was selected for an East Midlands team that played in a match against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. His performances got the attention of the incoming Saracens head coach

Brendan Venter Brendan Venter (born 29 December 1969) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. Venter played at Centre (rugby union), centre and earned 17 caps for South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa between 1994 and 1999. He p ...

and he was signed for Saracens in 2009.

Saracens

Botha was signed for

in the summer of 2009 from the

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

team the

. He made his debut on 5 September 2009 in the

London Double Header The London Double Header ran between 2004 and 2017 and typically opened the season of Premiership Rugby (currently known as the Gallagher Premiership due to sponsorship), the top rugby union league in England. Two games were played consecutively a ...

against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

. He came on as a substitute in the 60th minute for fellow Saracens lock

Hugh Vyvyan Hugh Donnithorne Vyvyan (born 8 September 1976 in Guildford) is a former rugby union player who played at lock for Newcastle Falcons, Saracens and England. He stands at 6'6" and weighs around 18 stone. The former England fullback Jon Callard ...

. Mouritz was a success in his first season for Saracens and quickly became a fans' favourite. The season ended in an appearance in the Guinness Premiership Final for Saracens. He again came on as a substitute in this game. He made a total of 32 appearances in the 2009–2010 season, scoring one try. Botha played a vital role in helping Saracens to win the 2010–11 English Premiership. Along the way, he made 27 appearances and was named in the 2011 Sky Sports Dream Team. He was named in the 2011

squad for the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

and made his debut in the 87–8 victory over the . He was subsequently selected in the full England squad and made his debut against . In Botha's third season for

, he was a frequent starter and helping them to finish in the semi-final places of the 2011–12 English Premiership, before losing to

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

in the semi-final. In total, he made 24 appearances for Saracens scoring one try. He also made appearances for in both the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

and in all three tests on England's tour of South Africa. During the season, Botha made his 100th appearance for the club in the 40–7 win over

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, helping Saracens to win their

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

pool and giving them a home quarter final draw against

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. Botha also started in the first ever

match to be played at Saracens' new ground Allianz Park, in a 31–11 victory over

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

. Botha came off of the bench as a second-half substitute for Alistair Hargreaves to help Saracens to a 27–16 victory over

in the quarter final of the

setting up a semi final with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. So far in the season, Botha has made 24 appearances for Saracens, scoring 1 try.

Sharks

After spending five-and-a-half seasons at

, Botha returned to South Africa prior to the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

, signing for

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

-based side the . He made eleven appearances for the Sharks in the Super Rugby season, but could not prevent them having a disappointing season, missing out on the finals series by finishing fourth in the South African Conference and 11th on the overall log.

Newcastle Falcons

After just one season at the , Botha returned to England to join the

on a three-year contract prior to the 2015–16 English Premiership season.

International career

Although he was born in South Africa, Botha qualified for England on residency grounds, having moved to England in 2004. Botha impressed with his performances for Saracens on the way to them becoming the Aviva Premiership champions and this led to him being named in the 2011 England Saxons squad for the Churchill Cup. In 2011, he was selected in the England 44-man squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

and made his England debut in the 23–19 victory over , although he eventually missed out on selection for England's World Cup Squad. Botha played in every game of England's 2012 Six Nations campaign, ultimately helping them to a second-place finish. At the end of 2012, Botha was named in the England squad for their tour of South Africa. Returning to his homeland, he started in England's 22–17 loss to South Africa. He later started in the second test and came on as a substitute in the 14–14 draw with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the last test.

References

External links

Saracens profile

England Profile

A series of photographs on Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Mouritz South African rugby union players Living people 1982 births England international rugby union players Bedford Blues players Newcastle Falcons players Saracens F.C. players Rugby union players from KwaZulu-Natal Rugby union locks 21st-century South African sportsmen