Toulon play deaf over Botha

Despite press releases to the contrary from the Bulls, the president of Racing Club de Toulon, Mourad Boudjellal, seems convinced that Bakkies Botha will join the French club.

Despite press releases to the contrary from the Bulls, the president of Racing Club de Toulon, Mourad Boudjellal, seems convinced that Bakkies Botha will join the French club.

“He will presented at Toulon on 26 February and will arrive at the end of March,” Boudjellal told Le Site on Monday.

“He's has signed a contract for two and a half years. Bit if we have to play in the play-offs, I hope he'll do us a favour.”

The same day the Bulls made it very clear, in a press release published on their website, that the Botha had not been released from his contract.

“He has a contract with us and can't play anywhere else,” read the Bulls' statement.

The Bulls have already turned down two requests for his release, one from Toulon and one from the player himself.

“There have been no further negotiations and nothing has been placed on the table since we turned down those requests, so as it stands Botha still has a contract with us,” continued the statement.

But Toulon however don't seem to have heard the message. Their website continues to report that Botha has signed a contract of three months, with an option to renew for a further two years, and their president in not changing his story.

“I don't know if things have changed. All that I know is that Bakkies Botha is a responsible man and that today he's with Toulon,” said Boudjellal.

“His agent, Bryan Habana's father, is a very good person. From the moment he signs with us, it's because he's free from any other agreement.

“We first met with his agent. We were discreet, other clubs show off more, but don't sign players. We're worked discreetly, we advanced on each file without showing anything to anyone.

“Nothing was leaked. He realised that a lot of people were circling around him for information.

“Without being a rugby specialist myself, I realised that we lacked cohesion up-front. Bakkies Botha is more than we could have dreamed of.”

With regards to speculation that Botha might be swapped for his Springbok second-row teammate, Victor Matfield, Boudjellal is adamant that Matfield is not going anywhere and that they are going to the top, together.

“Swapping him for Matfield was never an option,” he said.

“When I was a kid I never swapped players cards, so I won't do it in real life.

“Matfield could leave Toulon on 30 June, but my intuition tells me that it isn't in his intentions.

“Like anyone, he was homesick when he arrived, but as each day passes, he feels good here. To such an extent that he's not closed to the idea of extending his contract.

“I think he wants to play in the Top 14, otherwise it'll be difficult to keep him.

“We wanted the club to be mostly local Toulon players in three years. But we have to manage the present and the future. That's why we are signing big players and we've bolstered the training centre.

“It's up to Tana Umaga to run all the teams and implement his methods and produce big players.

“I'm carrying the expectations of a town. For too long Toulon has been forgotten in French rugby. There are few towns where rugby is experienced like it is here. It's the pride of the region.

“Can you imagine the [football] Ligue 1 without Olympique Marseille? It wouldn't be the same. It's a bit like the Top 14 without Toulon.

“If we ascend to the Top 14 we'll recruit five or six high-level players to reinforce the group we have. If we want to be successful in recruiting, we need to tie up the big cases quickly.”