Family and Early Career
Botha was born in the town of Breyten in the eastern Transvaal (now in Mpumalanga), South Africa and went to school at the Hendrik Verwoerd High School in Pretoria. As a child, Botha aspired to playing professional baseball and applied for a sport scholarship in the United States. Botha was also an excellent schools cricket and tennis player and also a hurdles athlete.
However, Botha was selected to play for the South African under-20 rugby team, where he caught the eye of the selectors while still a student at the University of Pretoria. As a result, Botha played his first Test for the Springboks on 26 April 1980 at the age of 22 in the flyhalf position against South America at Wanderers, Johannesburg.
Read more about this topic: Naas Botha
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