FORMER SPRINGBOK ARNO Botha has told the dozen or Munster players heading into Six Nations duty that he will mind the fort while they are gone.
And the 27-year old, who signed a contract extension with the province last December, said this is a great chance for players to stake a claim to be in the squad for the Heineken Champions Cup showdown with Edinburgh at the end of March.
But first up is a Guinness Pro14 trip to an improving Dragons side on Saturday in Newport [KO 3pm, eir Sport/TG4] where the Reds will hope to strengthen their lead at the top of Conference A.
“If you look at it, we’ve been here in this position before when the Irish guys go,” Botha said.
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“We have good strength in our squad and I think that’s what makes Munster amazing, and a good team a great team. It’s the depth we have and everyone can perform, just step in and do the next thing the other guy did. That’s why it’s so exciting playing for Munster.
“The guys want to show what they can do. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to display. We normally don’t focus on the individuals but as a team we need to stay with the structures that we have and we’ve been doing it well over the last seven months. I think that’s the main goal.”
Botha has chalked up 16 appearances, eight of them off the bench, since arriving in Limerick from London Irish last summer and the back rower said he is enjoying every minute of it.
Botha speaking in Limerick this week. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
He came on at half-time last weekend in the 9-7 Champions Cup win over Exeter but he said that while the game was on a knife-edge he didn’t think at any stage it would slip away from them.
“I never felt that. I felt that in games before but I never felt that in this game, it was just the energy the guys had in the team. I think that’s what made the difference.
“Everybody chipped in and everybody played their part so it never felt like we were in trouble even though we probably were at some stages, we kept our composure.
“It was an amazing game to be part of and just to be there, the whole environment within the squad.”
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Munster's Springbok Botha relishing starting opportunity this weekend
FORMER SPRINGBOK ARNO Botha has told the dozen or Munster players heading into Six Nations duty that he will mind the fort while they are gone.
And the 27-year old, who signed a contract extension with the province last December, said this is a great chance for players to stake a claim to be in the squad for the Heineken Champions Cup showdown with Edinburgh at the end of March.
But first up is a Guinness Pro14 trip to an improving Dragons side on Saturday in Newport [KO 3pm, eir Sport/TG4] where the Reds will hope to strengthen their lead at the top of Conference A.
“If you look at it, we’ve been here in this position before when the Irish guys go,” Botha said.
“We have good strength in our squad and I think that’s what makes Munster amazing, and a good team a great team. It’s the depth we have and everyone can perform, just step in and do the next thing the other guy did. That’s why it’s so exciting playing for Munster.
“The guys want to show what they can do. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to display. We normally don’t focus on the individuals but as a team we need to stay with the structures that we have and we’ve been doing it well over the last seven months. I think that’s the main goal.”
Botha has chalked up 16 appearances, eight of them off the bench, since arriving in Limerick from London Irish last summer and the back rower said he is enjoying every minute of it.
He came on at half-time last weekend in the 9-7 Champions Cup win over Exeter but he said that while the game was on a knife-edge he didn’t think at any stage it would slip away from them.
“I never felt that. I felt that in games before but I never felt that in this game, it was just the energy the guys had in the team. I think that’s what made the difference.
“Everybody chipped in and everybody played their part so it never felt like we were in trouble even though we probably were at some stages, we kept our composure.
“It was an amazing game to be part of and just to be there, the whole environment within the squad.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Arno Botha Munster pro14