Victor Matfield & Bakkies Botha
“Blood brothers” Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha could be reunited as the Springbok lock pairing in Test matches this year, the Rapport newspaper indicates.
Botha, 34, recently returned to action for his French club Toulon after missing most of the year with a broken arm. He was a key figure for Toulon when they won the Heineken Cup final at the weekend, beating English club Saracens 23-6 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Sport24
Since coming out of retirement, the 37-year-old Matfield has proved his worth for the Bulls in Super Rugby this year and was included in Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s training squad for a camp in Durban this week.
Meyer did not include any European-based players in his initial squad but there will be overseas additions when he names his final group for the June Tests this coming Saturday.
And Botha, who formed part of the Bok squad on last year’s European tour, is expected to be included.
An injury crisis at lock could mean that Matfield and Botha could find themselves playing together as the Bok lock pairing.
With Pieter-Steph du Toit, Franco van der Merwe and Eben Etzebeth still injured, Meyer must choose between the “Blood brothers”, Flip van der Merwe, Lood de Jager and Stephan Lewies.
It is therefore not beyond the realms of possibility that Matfield and Botha could start a Test together and add to the 56 Tests they started as lock pairing, which is a world record.
The Springboks start their year with a game against the World XV at Newlands on 7 June, followed by 2 Tests against Wales (Durban 14 June and Nelspruit 21 June) and 1 against Scotland (Port Elizabeth 28 June).