There were many heroes in their first ever Vodacom Super Rugby win over the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland on Sunday, but even among a lot of great Vodacom Bulls performances, it was the 80 minute effort of Arno Botha that really caught the eye.

The loose forward not only scored a try to help his side achieve the 28-21 win, his general play was equally impressive. He often took the ball up, creating go forward ball and more importantly, forced more than one defender to try and tackle him, thus freeing up space elsewhere for a teammate.

His defensive play was as good and his power and ability to hold up players in the contact situation created turn-overs for the Bulls. Botha was called on tour with the Springboks in November, but did not play a test match.

If he keeps performing like this, that first test cap will not be far away irrespective of the fact a healthy dose of class loose forwards are putting their hands up.

Bio:

Physical: 1.90 & 103
DOB: 26 October 1991, Modimolle
Provincial Debut: 2011 v Pumas (16 caps, 20 points)
Super Rugby Debut: 2012 v Reds (13 caps, 5 points)
Favourites:
Film: Never Back Down
Music: Enya
Food: Ribs, steak
Education: Nylstroom Primary, Nylstroom High School, University of Pretoria