Told he can't go: Bakkies Botha
Toulon coach Bernard Laporte has told L'Equipe he will not allow Bakkies Botha to play for South Africa against New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday.
Botha was rumoured to be called in as cover for suspended lock Eben Etzebeth after the 20-year-old was banned for two weeks for head-butting lock Nathan Sharpe in Australia's win last week.
With Etzebeth ruled out until September 24, South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer had placed Botha on standby for Saturday's match after the 32-year-old veteran lock expressed an interest in playing.
But Laporte has on Tuesday quashed the possibility of a Bok call-up with a firm retort.
"Bakkies will wear the Toulon jersey on Friday (against Montpellier) and not the South African one on Saturday," he said.
"Today he trained with us."
Comments
Houston_11 says...
I'm still at a loss as to why they haven't tried to get Muller from Ulster - rock in lineout/scrum and is a good workhorse on the pitch. Add in the fact that he's a great leader and you'd have a perfect replacement here... plus someone with experience to help the younger players out.
Bakkies for me only performed at his best with Matfield because Matfield was so similar in approach to Muller...
Posted 12:40 12th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ jmanngod - Whilst I appreciate your sentiment, I just can't agree. Unless there are centralised contracts and the various Unions pay the players' salaries, their employer (i.e. their club) must be negotiated with for release. There are some "Test Windows" dictated by the IRB and some players build in release clauses into their contracts. If not, then I'm with the clubs on this.
Posted 10:20 12th September 2012
powerplay says...
...no release clause? he prob didnt think hell get called up..
Posted 05:01 12th September 2012
Ferdie says...
i'd say the contracts are quite simple; retire from international rugby, contract to play for the club. Paid large sums of money accordingly - why would a club contract a player who may go away for international duties? Players take these contracts with big money clubs for exactly that - and good luck to them - but can't have it both ways. Same with players who may hope to be selected for B&I Lions 2013 - a warning there in terms of signing contracts - why should eg a French club be supporting that tour?
Posted 02:11 12th September 2012
ben7 says...
No worries.
1. beast
2. strauss
3. jannie
4. alberts
5. bekker
6. coetzee
7. louw
8. vermeulen
9. pienaar
10. goosen
11. habana
12. steyn
13. de jongh
14. hougaard
15. lambie
Posted 23:51 11th September 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
Blessing in disguise for SA. He would have sat on the plane for a day, rolled into NZ Thursday jetlagged then sat on the bench and on the off chance he would have got on the field would be too slow to keep up anyway.
Posted 20:41 11th September 2012
jmanngod says...
Laporte should now be fined and his team withdrawn from competition until he complies. Club teams should be heavily penalised anytime they interfere with Test Rugby.
This is just a preview of why Argentina is not going to work in the Rugby Champs - a couple of years from now these kinds of shenanigans will start. Smash the clubs now - or regret it forever.
Half the reason the SH is so strong is that the clubs are powerless in the face of the national unions.
Posted 20:07 11th September 2012
JayStarr says...
@ APV1 & melkdave: Yeah, good points... Perhaps there's something that says a certain amount of notice must be given - NH contracts! ;P And on second thought, is it really such a good idea to fly a player from Europe to New Zealand 3 or 4 days before a test? I flew from London to Sydney once and it felt like I was off to discover another planet..! Took me the whole two weeks to get over the jet lag! So maybe it's better if he stays...
@ Davoust: Since you clearly know so much about rugby, who would you pick that is so much "younger" (or "better", just because he's younger?) and less "violent" (do you perhaps mean "physical") than Bakkies... if you were Heineke Meyer?
@ scot_rsa: The first person to make a sensible suggestion, instead of just calling for someone "younger"... Muller could be a good replacement actually - he has the experience necessary for flying in and facing the All Blacks. However, I actually really like your suggestion of moving Alberts to 4. He is simply not mobile enough for loose-forward against the All Blacks in my opinion, so not only will we have a big, physical guy familiar with the systems at 4, but we'll also create an opportunity to have Louw, Coetzee and Vermeulen at 6, 7 and 8 - which I think is the best loosie-combo we can be taking NZ on with right now... It also means we can avoid starting Flip vd Merwe, who has not contributed anything positive to a game since 2009.
What do you think?
Posted 19:39 11th September 2012
scot_rsa says...
Shame. Recall PdV getting stick for not clearing matters with the Euro clubs, maybe that was unwarranted. Politics are ugly. Muller or Mostert then? Or Alberts to lock?
Posted 18:44 11th September 2012
Carpelone says...
I guess it is a contractual issue. They should have solved it before going public (i.e. SARU and Toulon).
Having said that, I dislike Laporte.
Posted 18:17 11th September 2012
turboboy says...
The French clubs really do know how write up a rugby contract don't they!! If they are paying top dollar they want complete dedication and no risk of injury outside their playing arena - annoying but the right way to do it.
Posted 18:11 11th September 2012
Davoust says...
Good news, this way Meyer will have to find someone younger and less violent, maybe.
Posted 18:04 11th September 2012
atg77 says...
I thought the IRB rules stipulated that players much be released for international matches?
Posted 17:43 11th September 2012
melkdave says...
@Jaystar
I think what BL is saying is B.Botha hasnt actually been called up to play for the bokke,just been put on stand by.There is a vast difference between being called up ,and being on stand by to play.Until his actually called to play,Toulon are well within there rights to deny SA his services,so the player release for tests just doesnt apply
Posted 17:23 11th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ JayStarr - and we let Agulla go too. There are a few AP players in the 4N, not many, but a couple.
Maybe it's down to their contracts, just like Lions issues at the moment. Perhaps he wasn't included in the list of "those who might be considered for Test rugby", or similar...
Posted 16:25 11th September 2012
JayStarr says...
What happened to the test window? Bath let their captain Francois Louw go, even though they were playing Wasps this weekend, so what is Laporte's issue? If I was Bakkies I'd say "screw you", go play for the Boks and return to SA... or go play in Japan.
Posted 15:28 11th September 2012
Norm says...
He is, but so is everything about Toulon, except the geography!
Posted 15:09 11th September 2012
Frooschman says...
Laporte may be in the right. But he's still annoying.
Posted 15:00 11th September 2012
porridge_time says...
Thats a shame... the Bokes will just have to find another lug to replace the one they lost;-)
Posted 14:51 11th September 2012
TVaddict says...
Fair enough.
Posted 14:37 11th September 2012