BJ fronting up

IF Munster fans needed any more persuasion that BJ Botha was the man to shore up their province’s scrum, the final confirmation has come from his former Ulster team-mate Rory Best.

The Ireland hooker and the Springbok tighthead had no choice but to cosy up to each other in the Ulster front row over the previous three seasons and now Botha, 31, is settling in at Munster, Best is happy to reassure supporters they have the right man.

“When you sign world-class players they’re going to fit in, wherever they are,” Best said. “There’s no doubt about that, especially when you look at that Leinster game up in Dublin (last month), he showed his mettle that night. He’s a quality player, he’s going to fit in well.

Generous man that he is, Best was equally helpful in tipping off the Munster squad about the new player in their midst.

“Like everyone he has his curious tendencies but don’t we all,” he said. Asked if he would like to share the details of those tendencies, Best replied: “I wouldn’t! He’s very meticulous in everything he does, let’s just say.

“He’s very organised and if you mess up his routine he’s not particularly happy,” Best said with a chuckle, “and he’s not the sort of person you want to wind up too many times in a season.”

Munster forwards may have already worked that out for themselves but they will readily attest to his organisational skills as Botha has helped this season to steady and now develop a scrum that had lost its way in recent seasons.

“The challenges moving forward are to solidify the unit in the scrum, there are eight of us working together there, but it has been easy fitting into this environment,” Botha said during his first interview as a Munster player this week.

“The guys have been welcoming and hopefully we can continue, it is a work in progress. Our scrum each weekend, we get different challenges from different teams and we have to review that going forward, take a step forward each week not a step back. That’s our view at the moment and hopefully we can just keep on going along that road.”

The latest challenge comes today in Llanelli, when Munster’s unbeaten start to the Heineken Cup Pool 1 campaign goes on the line against the similarly undefeated Scarlets.

While the South African recognises his purpose he refuses to take the credit for helping to restore the scrum as a Munster weapon, adhering strictly to the forwards code of one for all and all for one. .

“I think that’s a little bit harsh,” he said of the assertion that he has been the catalyst. “I think Munster has shown glimpses of a scrum that’s moving forward and for me I just want to add my part. It’s becoming a massive part of the game as we’ve seen over the last year or so and in particular the Heineken Cup final where it was a massive challenge.

“I think we can put our finger on where it’s changed in the game and going forward each team needs to have a solid scrum if it wants to be in the end stages of the European Cup. For us, that’s in the back of our minds and to be part of that eight-man, it’s a big thing. All of us being on the same page is extremely important.”

Botha will not be the first front row forward to say there’s more to their game than the set-piece but few can outline their new job descriptions as well.

“Definitely, the game’s evolved. If you want to play in a top team and be at the top of the game and be selected game in, game out, you can’t just do your basic scrumming or lineout lifting or kick-off lifting as a front row player.

“You’re going to have to high work-rates of tackles, be defensively on the money and you have to be hoping to turnover some ball because at the end of the day, whoever’s got the ball can make the decisions for themselves.”

Botha also highlighted the challenges his transition from southern hemisphere forward play to northern hemisphere presented.

“I’ve had to make big adjustments coming over here,” he said. “I think you’ll see the scrum is not the massive weapon it is up north. You see a certain amount of scrums down south being reffed differently.

“I think that’s one of biggest changes I’ve had to make coming up here, with the scrum being such a massive part of the game.

” I’ve come to realise that from an attacking point of view we have to be just as much on our toes on defence.

“So, the adjustments I’ve had to make, being honest, down south we were probably paying hardly any attention to the set-piece. It would be getting the ball in, getting that hard shoulder and getting the ball out.

“I haven’t been home for four years but being involved with South Africa it has been a big talking point. Scrums are getting less but it’s still going to be a massive weapon when we have the conditions we play in up north here. It plays a big part of the game up here and those tight exchanges will always be part of the game and I think that’s what makes rugby special.”