Botha happiest in the heart of pitch battles

BJ Botha has given a seal of approval to Munster’s development process which is starting to deliver front-row forwards.

The South African is back in the mix after damaging his knee ligament in a friendly against London Irish in last August. He has been playing a dual role for Munster since his move to Limerick a couple of years ago. Wooed from Ulster as the replacement for the now departed legendary tight head John Hayes, he was given the task of providing guidance for the new kids on the block.

Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer and, most recently, James Cronin have jumped up the provincial and national pecking order since while John Ryan won’t be too far behind.