Rugby can take some lessons from simplified soccer, says former Bok Naas Botha

Friday nights on #MSW are reserved for legends and they don’t come much bigger than Naas Botha.

The now 64-year-old may have only played 28 times for South Africa between 1980 and 1992, but during that short-lived international career, the prolific No.10 amassed 312 points in the green and gold.

In a wide-ranging interview with Robert Marawa, Botha touched on several aspects about the game, from his playing career, to the state of the sport in South Africa at the moment.

The former Blue Bulls pivot also revealed that rugby was suprisingly, not his preferred sport growing up.

I would have loved to be a pro sportsman and the sport I thought I would get opportunities in was baseball. I played for SA in two European tours when I was at under-16 level.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

But Botha made the switch to rugby and said admitted that playing for the Springboks wasn’t necessarily the goal.

I was very fortunate to have the chance to represent South Africa and I played with some of the best rugby players in the world during my playing days.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

The Currie Cup was the pinnacle but at the moment it is not at the level it should be, but we are part of the URC and European Championship so there is growth in other competitions.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

Botha also believes that rugby is too complicated and is not the global game that it should be.

He believes the sport needs an overhaul in order to compete against a global sport like soccer.

I would like to see some structures change because certain things don’t work and I would love to see new things because we are in a new era. Rugby should be a global game and unfortunately at the moment it’s not.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

Soccer simplified the rules to appeal to everyone where rugby has too many laws that are always changing and sometimes the players aren’t responsible for a poor game. It’s the way the laws are interpreted in the different competitions and different countries.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

We need to simplify the game and make it more attractive to the masses. Sometimes I don’t know what we are trying to do with rugby.

Naas Botha, former Springbok fly-half.

Watch the full interview in the video below:

This article first appeared on 947 : Rugby can take some lessons from simplified soccer, says former Bok Naas Botha