London Irish sign Blue Bulls duo Arno Botha & Piet van Zyl

London Irish have landed South African back row Arno Botha and scrum-half Piet van Zyl from the Blue Bulls with immediate effect.

Explosive ball carrier Botha made 82 appearances for the Blue Bulls, skippering the side to the Currie Cup Final in 2016 to underline his credentials as an effective leader.

Representing the Springboks on three occasions, van Zyl is a solid acquisition for Irish as fellow number nine Brendan McKibbin continues his recovery from injury. 

“Arno is an aggressive ball carrier, who has the ability to consistently get over the gain line." said Exiles’ director of rugby Nick Kennedy on Botha signing.

“From a young age Arno was tipped as a future Springbok captain, but injuries hampered his progress. However, he’s now back to full fitness and his injuries are very much behind him as he looks to make an immediate impact with us.”

On the van Zyl signing, Kennedy added: "I’m very pleased to welcome Piet to London Irish and he brings a lot of experience to our back division. 

“With Brendan McKibbin’s injury, Piet’s arrival bolsters our scrum-half options and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the team in the coming weeks.” 

Capped twice by the Springboks, 26-year-old Botha can operate as either a flanker or number eight and has teamed up with fellow countrymen Franco van der Merwe, Petrus Du Plessis, Sebastian De Chaves and Richard Palframan at the club’s Hazelwood training complex today.

28-year-old van Zyl brings Super Rugby experience to the table having made 76 appearances in the competition for both the Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls.