NAMIBIAN fullback and Lions stalwart, Chrysander Botha, has joined British club, Exeter Chiefs, with immediate effect after being granted a release by the Johannesburg-based union.
The versatile Botha arrived in Exeter last week and will look to enjoy a good season in England before hopefully returning to the Namibian side ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in England.
The 26-year-old is looking to make an impact on the West Country side, with Chiefs assistant coach Ali Hepher telling the club’s website that they expect big things from the Namibian.
“He’s a slightly different make-up to what we’ve got already,” Hepher said. “There’s hopefully a little more pace and he’s an exciting runner on the ball and also tough defensively, which is important at full-back.
“It’s a slot we’ve been looking to fill for a little while now. We’ve been looking for the right person but we weren’t desperate because we’ve got other players who are certainly capable of playing at fullback. Hopefully he will add a bit of quality there.”
Hepher said it was important that Botha joined the club now, and would be available for the pre-season games to get him acclimatized.
“With the Super Rugby season finishing, we wanted to get him in as early as possible,” added Hepher. “It’s work at this stage and it will be good to get him into training next week and we can have a really good look at him within our system and see how he goes.”
Supersport.com