What can you say about a player like Naas Botha? He simply was the greatest match winner South Africa has ever produced. He had an uncanny ability to dictate a match. Dr. Danie Craven described him as a genius and a general. My dad told me the story of how 3000 people went to the C field at Loftus to watch this young flyhalf play for the under 20's.
He wasn't popular outside Pretoria and people often accused him of being a kicking flyhalf only. This is one of the biggest rugby fallacies out there. Naas was a brilliant distributor of the ball and could get a backline away better than most. Ray Mordt, Danie Gerber and Carel Du Plessis all excelled with Naas at flyhalf. The reason people focused on his kicking is because he kicked so bloody well. He could get teams out of trouble and keep the scoreboard ticking over. He could also win matches almost on his own, just think of the 1987 Currie Cup Final.
Truth be told, no one can argue over Naas' ability on the field. He was a winner and he went onto the field with one objective - TO WIN. South Africa hasn't been able to replace him in 24 years and I doubt we will see his like again.
I hope you enjoy this video. Thanks for watching!
