Springbok lock Victor Matfield has given his team-mate some sage advice ahead of an impending move to Toulon in France after the World Cup : Learn French quickly.
Matfield, who has shared almost every high in South African rugby with his Bulls and Bok team-mate, and who shares the world record for appearances by a lock combination with Bakkies Botha, joked that Botha needed to learn the language fast, simply to “protect himself” in the rough and tumble that is French rugby.
Matfield was ironically at Toulon for six months, cutting short a two year contract to return home early after he found he didn’t enjoy the rugby out there. While the world’s number one lock was at the same club, he was played at flank, and has often told of the amount of thuggery he saw in French rugby during his time there.
Botha, though is not one to take a step backwards at a physical confrontation, and is likely to relish the physical battle at the French club when he joins Joe van Niekerk, Matt Giteau, Jonny Wilkinson and Gavin Henson there.
Matfield chuckled when asked about his advice for Botha, then decided quickly the language barrier was the best weapon the big lock could have.
“My only advice to him is that he learns to speak French very quickly. That will be good protection for himself in the punching culture out there. He needs to learn to speak French,” Matfield said.
While the Bulls still have not confirmed Botha’s move as they haven’t received official word on it yet, SuperSport.com has it on good authority that Botha signed Friday night and sent the contract through to France on Saturday morning.
Toulon are expected to announce the signing shortly, but Botha simply wants to concentrate on his rugby in his last few months at the Bulls.
Bulls High Performance manager Ian Schwartz said they knew about Botha’s intention to leave at the end of the season.
“We knew he wanted to further his career overseas and every player who is leaving us, is not a surprise to us. We made plans a year ago and Bakkies told his fellow players that he wanted to continue his career overseas and he didn’t want it to be a surprise to them,” Schwartz said.
“He told them he wants to concentrate on his rugby this year.”
Matfield echoed Schwartz’s sentiments.
“Talk like that is for the end of the year and I know he (Bakkies) wants to achieve a lot in South African rugby in the next eight months before then.”
Far from his last attempt to join the French club, the Bulls will be overjoyed to know that Botha wants to leave on a high, and with a Super Rugby title to defend, and a World Cup after that, we may not have seen the best of the big lock just yet.
Supersport