WHILE THE GUINNESS Pro12 clash with Leinster on Saturday is understandably at the forefront of BJ Botha’s thoughts, the 34-year-old prop has the possibility of a contract extension in the back of his mind.
The South African tighthead’s current deal expires at the end of the season, and Botha is keen to play on for the province as long as his body allows him to compete at the highest level.
While the IRFU will have to sign off on a new deal for the former Springbok, there has been clear evidence of his value to Munster on the pitch in recent seasons. In so crucial a position, Botha has been a pillar of strength for the southern province.
As the 2014/15 campaign begins to heat up, Botha admits that getting his future sorted is important.
“Obviously you do think about that, to be honest, because you don’t want to be going into your last season not knowing where you’re going to be progressing” says Botha.
I think I have stated openly that I can’t see myself playing anywhere else if everything works out, but again, I think the most important thing to think about is to perform on the field at this stage.
“Then hopefully that will look after everything else. I still feel that being at Munster, I still have a few years under the belt, that I can still perform at this level. I hope to just add to the Munster team going forward, however long that may be.”
Corkman Stephen Archer, twice capped by Ireland, is next in the pecking order for Munster’s number three shirt, while John Ryan and Alan Cotter provide further depth in the senior squad.
24-year-old Martin Kelly, who showed great promise for Leinster ‘A’ last season, joined during the summer, taking a break from his burgeoning career in medicine to do so. The Kilkenny man awaits his Munster debut.
Despite the options for head coach Anthony Foley, Botha remains the clear first choice at tighthead.
As well as his playing ability, the former Ulster prop has been credited with carrying out much of Munster’s scrum coaching in recent seasons, particularly as Rob Penney had no specialist in this area over the last two seasons.
With Jerry Flannery now installed in that role under Foley, has Botha taken a step back from the coaching side of things?
“I think naturally being a front row, we do a lot of coaching ourselves with each other afterwards,” explains Botha. “Jerry being there, having been in the front row, what he’s been through, is obviously massive for us.
I think it’s just that person who gives us time at training, gets us time to do scrums, gets us time in the video room, gets us time in making it a point of reference; ‘This is where we’re going, we’re doing scrums for 10 or 15 minutes now;’ it buys us that time.
“We’re doing a lot of self-coaching as well, but Jerry obviously oversees that with his experience and his knowledge there. It’s been great to lean on him. He’s arrived in soon after retiring and I arrived just as he was sort of leaving.
“He’d done a huge amount before that, so it’s massive what he brings. Also, he’s obviously been part of the Munster brand, leading the way for so many years. He knows what to do to get there again.”
