[1] Botha mostly played in the fly-half position and is now a rugby commentator for the South African M-Net and Supersport TV channels.

[3] Botha was born in the town of Breyten in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa and went to school at the Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd in Pretoria.

However, Botha was selected to play for the South African under-20 rugby team, where he caught the eye of the selectors while still a student at the University of Pretoria.

[4] As a result, Botha played his first Test for the Springboks on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers, Johannesburg.

Botha and his fellow Springboks' focus on playing rugby was made difficult by actions such as pitch invasions and aircraft fly-bys from protesters opposed to South Africa's apartheid policies.

This meant that, apart from hosting the rebel New Zealand Cavaliers tour in 1986, Botha played few international games, including two tests in 1989 against a World 15 made up by players from England, Wales and France.

Despite being handsomely paid "under the table", Botha was of the opinion that he could earn more in professional sport, and was invited by the American football team the Dallas Cowboys in 1983 to travel to the United States to try out as a placekicker.

Botha's career lasted long enough for him to see South Africa let back into the international rugby fold and to play in one-off Tests against World Cup holders Australia and New Zealand.

Botha is now married to Karen, a former Springbok athlete and long jump record-holder; the couple have three daughters, Kyla (1991) Gaeby (1998) and Lee-gre (2003).