Life was good in South Africa. Botha was a key man for the Sharks, which had been his dream growing up in Durban. The tighthead prop was a regular with the Springboks too, earning a World Cup medal with them in He and his wife, Taryn, faced a huge decision.
Stay where they were so happy or take on a new adventure in Ireland. Limerick is home now. Ava is 15, Owen is 13, Sydney is 10, Lexi is seven, and Boden is four. Botha became an Irish citizen in after spending five years playing for Munster, with Taryn gaining citizenship soon after.
The kids all have Irish passports too. It allows such flexibility for travelling, studying, working. I had played for them in but in , I was waiting for my visa to come through. Botha won 25 caps for the Springboks. Though he has no regrets, Botha has occasionally wondered what life might have been like if he had stayed at home. The Springboks decided not to select overseas-based players for that Lions series and it was tough to miss out on those titanic games. Botha did return to the Boks fold later that season but the last of his 25 Test caps came in the summer of against the All Blacks.
In the meantime, the Bothas had settled into life with Ulster well. I actually asked why I was getting paid in pounds and not euros. Unfortunately, two weeks into his life, he was misdiagnosed and got a urinary tract infection that turned into sepsis.
But the main thing was that we were so worried about whether our son was going to survive. It was that serious. There was so much to like in Ulster, with a close group of friends around them, including several other South African players.
