Bakkies aim for 'hat-trick' double
John Philip Botha is already a legend. At Twickenham on Saturday the 35-year-old Springbok lock could add another trophy to his already brimful cabinet.
He will feature for Toulon in the European Champions Cup Final against ASM Clermont Auvergne in London.
Botha, affectionately known as Bakkies, would become the first man to lift three Super Rugby titles and a trio of European crowns if his Toulon side can conquer the continent once more.
The South African will bow out of top-tier after the London final, but another veteran is out to spoil the party.
Jamie Cudmore knows the pain of losing out to Toulon, having packed down in their 15-16 defeat two seasons ago.
And Botha is relishing the opportunity to bow out on a high in his one last battle with the Canadian.
"Becoming the first player to win three Super Rugby and three European titles would be special, but my focus is on the team, not myself," Botha said.
"We were not happy about the way we played in the semifinal against Leinster, when our discipline let us down.
"We are an experienced group of players and we have said a few hard words to each other.
"We have to be better in the final and my aim is to end my career on a high.
"When the likes of us retire I am not sure citing commissioners will have a job any more!
"It has been good to play the game in the manner we have, but it has changed since I started out.
"It is so much faster now and you have to be a few kilograms lighter, able to get across the field and keep the phases going.
"You look at the top young second-rows now and they are all athletes."
Botha has seen first-hand the rise of Toulon since finding a home on the Cote D'Azur.
His arrival in 2012 has coincided with the club's golden era, and he is ready to make it three-in-a-row in his final act.
"When I joined Toulon, we were battling to get in the qualifying positions for Europe and now we are looking to win the cup for the third year in a row," Botha said.
"My enjoyment comes from what the team achieves and there is everything to play for in the final month of my career."
* Meanwhile fans of both Toulon and Clermont will be hoping the old adage of a bad dress rehearsal means everything will be alright on the day - after both Champions Cup finalists were beaten in the Top 14.
A week out from their big date at Twickenham Stadium the reigning European and French champions, Toulon, were shot down in La Rochelle, while Clermont slumped to their third successive defeat in the Top 14.
Bernard Laporte sent out only one of his starting XV from the Champions Cup semifinal triumph over Leinster the previous weekend, flyhalf Frederic Michalak - as he gave his front-line players a break before the Final.
A further five of the starting XV in Marseille were on the bench - Juan Martin Fernandez-Lobbe, Matt Giteau, Bryan Habana, Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Levan Chilachava - and four off the semifinal bench started.
A last gasp try from centre Mali Hingano earned him hero status in La Rochelle as his score, converted by Peter Grant, steered the home side to an amazing 32-29 victory over the top team in the league. Toulon led 29-25 with 11 minutes to go after Michalak had taken his personal tally in the game to 19 points.
But they were undone at the death and went down to their ninth Top 14 defeat of the season. They still lead the table by four points from Clermont, who are still clinging on to second place despite a 31-10 trouncing in Castres at the weekend.
They conceded five tries, including a hat-trick to Remi Grosso, but succeeded in protecting their top team for Twickenham.
In much the same way as they did before the semifinal with Saracens, when they sent out a second string at home against Oyonnax and lost, they didn't play any of the players who had featured in the semifinal triumph in St Etienne.
All eight replacements started, including French halfbacks Morgan Parra and Camille Lopes, and three of the starting XV against Saracens were among the replacements - Noa Naikataci, Ludovic Radoslavjevic and Damien Chouly.
Source: @ChampionsCup