Renier Botha (born 28 September 1992) is a South African professional

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 last played for in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is scrum-half.

Career

Youth and Varsity rugby

After playing high school rugby with

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

-based Diamantveld High School, Botha was included in the squad for the 2010 Under-18

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...

tournament in

Welkom Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...

. He also made one appearance for the side in the Under-19 provincial championships. Botha went to the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State (; Sotho language, Sesotho: ''Yunivesithi ya Freistata'') is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It wa ...

, playing club rugby for them and making their

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each unive ...

squad for the

2013 Varsity Cup The 2013 Varsity Cup was contested from 4 February to 8 April 2013. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-un ...

. He made four starts for the side, scoring one try against the . Towards the end of the season, Botha also made three appearances for former side in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship competition, playing as a centre. Botha didn't make the squad for the

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-u ...

, instead playing

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

rugby for the .

Free State Cheetahs

Botha made his first class debut during the

2014 Vodacom Cup The 2014 Vodacom Cup was played between 7 March and 16 May 2014 and was the 17th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from th ...

competition, eventually playing in all eight matches of the 's season. He started their opening match of the season against the and scored his first points in senior rugby when he got a try shortly before half-time in their match against the , one of three tries he scored during the campaign. With no

experience, Botha was a surprise inclusion on the bench for the ' match against the during the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

. He got the opportunity due to an injury to first choice scrum-half

Sarel Pretorius Sarel Johannes Pretorius (born 18 April 1984) is a South African rugby player who plays at scrum half for the in the Pro14. During 2007–2011 he played in the Currie Cup for Griquas and made his Super Rugby debut for the in 2009 against th ...

and with scrum-half Tian Meyer being involved in the 2014 Vodacom Cup final.

Griquas

Botha moved to

during 2016 to join .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Renier 1992 births Living people Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Rugby union players from Bloemfontein South African rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves 21st-century South African sportsmen Alumni of Diamantveld High School