Brendon went down with knee ligament damage during the Springboks’ 64-15 romp over the USA in their Group A fixture of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The game was ironically best remembered for Zimbabwean-born Takudzwa Ngwenya outpacing Bok speedster, Bryan Habana.
For Botha however, it spelt the end of his World Cup campaign & possibly his Springbok career. Such fears were put to rest when he made a critically-acclaimed return to the Green & Gold in the Boks European tour of 2009.