Dear Bakkies Botha

I sat down yesterday morning in eager anticipation of a great opener to the 2010 Tri-nations competition. It was barely two minutes into the game and I was fuming. I had just seen you head butt Jimmy Cowan from behind (off the ball), feigning as if it was momentum that made your heads connect. I was disgusted by what I saw. I’m an ardent Bok supporter and will admit to they way my support sometimes clouds the way in which I see the dirty play that some Springboks get up to – I am biased, yes. However, no amount of patriotism nor bias could get in the way of what must be the verdict on your conduct: dirty, despicable, malicious, arrogant and most un-Christian like!

You have now been banned by SANZAR for 9 week as a result of the incident (and your previous record of such offenses). While a ban was a near certainty, I am left feeling a little jaded though. Is the extent of the justice dished out to you sufficient? I think not. It’s all fine and well for SANZAR to dish out punishment, but I am questioning what the administrators within our own camp will do (if anything?). Personally, I believe you should be stripped of your Springbok jersey. Your behaviour is unbefitting the conduct of a officer, so to speak. This instance of foul play, and your record of it, brings the brand and reputation of the Springboks into disrepute. If it was a once off occurrence I would understand – Rugby is a contact sport and a sport which operates on the line between rationality and pure manly power and instinct. The quality of a great forward player is their ability to use their head to keep their body in check. You have taken that quality far too literally I’m afraid.

On a personal level I am embarrassed by your behaviour. You have on many occasions touted your faith in Jesus and how it is the Spirit’s power that provides you with your ability. You will thank God at every opportunity. While I am insanely proud of any sports person who publicly acknowledges the Source, I am embarrassed to be associated with you in the faith. Your behaviour just creates a massive disjuncture between what Christians profess to believe and how it influences their behaviour. I would encourage you to read what Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians:

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

You see, the more our lives are in stark contrast to what our beliefs profess the more ammunition non-beleivers have to discredit our faith. This is indeed the case with you and the shocking contradiction between your professional rugby playing and your professed faith. You dear sir provide a very nifty and justified foothold for argument against us (as Christians) and our faith in Jesus.
Now, it must be said that I am no angel either. There are many areas in my life that are cause for the “hypocrite” to be branded across my forehead. The difference though is two-fold:

• I do not have nearly 30 cameras focussing on me when I stumble, and
• I do not do so in the belief that I can get away with it through feigning an accident.

One of the issues I have with non-believers is how they assume that Christians are a homogenous group. They view a display like your shocking head butt and listen to you profess faith in Jesus and then wonder about the huge gaps between action and belief of believers. And in some cases rightly so. The problem is that you’re a public minister of the faith. Please stand up as a man of God and accept responsibility for your carnal desires. I often joke that you whisper to people in the contact space, “I smite you with the love of God” before pulverizing them. It’s no joke anymore.

The response is up to you now I’m afraid. What will you do? Will we be met with a media silence? A resignation from the team? A pithy apology at a press conference? Either way I would like to invite you to take responsibility for your actions, your hypocrisy and above all, get your self sorted out.

Regards,

Aiden Choles