Springboks lock Bakkies Botha was notorious for his physicality and brutality on the pitch, earning him the nickname ‘The Enforcer’.
The World Cup-winning second rower was infamous for his craft in the days before the TMOs and countless cameras keeping an eye on the action, and he made the most of it, as many players have revealed over the years, including South African-born ex-England and Lions prop Matt Stevens.
Bakkies Botha punching Matt Stevens
John Smit, a former Springboks skipper, has often related the account of Stevens’ encounter with Botha, stating that the Bok lock was perplexed as to why Stevens chose to play for England rather than South Africa.
In 2019, Smith said on the House of Rugby podcast, “Bakkies couldn’t understand how this guy born in South Africa could play for the queen when he was playing for England for the first time in South Africa.”
“He just didn’t get it; I thought I had explained it pretty well, but it turns out I didn’t, and in the first scrum, he loaded on the left-hand side, which is where he doesn’t normally scrum – he normally scrums on the tighthead.
“I realised what was coming, so I shifted to the right and Bakkies came through and hit him so plumb right here (Smit pointing to his eye) and he split him open like the most perfect happy emoji.
“He [Stevens] went off to the doctor, and they stitched him up; 14 stitches later, eight minutes, and the first scrum back; Bakkies is on the left-hand side again.
“So now, I know what’s coming, and I keep to the right and his aim wasn’t as good; only eight of the 14 stitches popped out. That sort of took us to half-time, and I said, ‘Bakkies, I think that’s enough’, and he looked up and said, ‘Just one more, please’.”
Stevens responds
Smit has retold the story multiple times, and now Stevens has had his say on the incident, although he can’t remember too much of it.
“It’s kind of folded into the age,” Stevens said on the Boks Office podcast when Jean de Villiers asked him where the scar was.
While Stevens wouldn’t have been able to see the funny side of the situation back then, he can now and had former Springboks De Villiers and Hanyani Shimange in stitches as he recounted the events from his perspective.
“I mean, everyone’s got a version of that story, and I think it’s one of John’s [Smit] favourites, his go-to story; he should get some new material,” Stevens added, taking a shot at his former Saracens teammate.
“It knocks you because the man [Botha] has hands the size of dinner plates and it has the force of a ten-ton truck behind it.”
“Everyone speaks about how amazing Bakkies is, but just to put things in perspective, as the player on the other side, Bakkies had multiple scrum opportunities to express his aggression against me.
“He’s praised for it and is a hero, but on the other side of that, I had to go into scrum after scrum and take a punch in the face while I couldn’t move. It was the first time I played against South Africa.”
“We all know the risk,” Handre Pollard comments on the “chaotic” Springboks.
Jujitsu champ and rugby career
Stevens added that he feels that he ‘should get some type of commission’ from John Smit, who has regularly told the story at events.
The ex-England prop is a blue belt Jujitsu British champion and also joked that the incident with Bakkies Botha led him to the martial art.
“Yes, I realized that I needed to learn self-defense after Bakkies, and jiu-jitsu is one of those things that can help you take on the bigger guy,” Stevens said with a laugh.
Stevens, who was born in Durban, South Africa, to English parents, spent his childhood there. Before relocating to the UK, he played for the Junior Springboks, Western Province, and South African Universities at the under-18 and under-19 levels.
He joined the Premiership club after attending the University of Bath. Subsequently, he joined Saracens, then went back to South Africa to play for the Sharks before finishing his career with Toulon.
He participated in the British and Irish Lions tours in 2005 and 2013 and has 39 caps in Test cricket for England.
