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Aviva Premiership: Exeter Chiefs sign full-back Chrysander Botha from Johannesburg Lions

Chrysander Botha
Image: Chrysander Botha: Exchanging South Africa for the south west of England

Exeter Chiefs have announced that Namibian full-back Chrysander Botha has become the club’s eighth signing of the summer.

The 26-year-old has been playing in Super Rugby for the Lions, a South African side, and has 25 caps for Namibia.

Botha will join his team-mates next week and should be available for pre-season friendlies against Cardiff Blues, Ulster and Worcester Warriors.

There’s hopefully a little more pace and he’s an exciting runner on the ball. He’s also tough defensively, which is always important at full-back.
Ali Hepher

Exeter assistant coach Ali Hepher said: “He’s a slightly different player to what we’ve got already.

“There’s hopefully a little more pace and he’s an exciting runner on the ball. He’s also tough defensively, which is always important at full-back.

“It’s a slot we have been looking to fill for a little while now. We’ve been looking for the right person, but we weren’t desperate because we’ve got other players who are more than capable of playing in that position.

“Hopefully, he will add a bit more quality there for us."

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The conclusion of the Lions' Super Rugby campaign in mid-July frees Botha up to switch to Devon and play a full part in the club's pre-season activity before they get their Premiership campaign underway with a trip to newly-promoted London Welsh on September 7.

“With the Super Rugby season finishing, we wanted to get him in as early as possible," Hepher added.

“It’s worked at this stage and it will be good to get him into training next week. Then we can really have a good look at him within our system and see how he goes.

“Obviously, we have got other options for the position, so it’s meant we have been able to take our time to find the best fit that was out there, and hopefully Chrysander is that.”

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