Six Nations 2026: Wales’ Botham gets stick from Sir Ian after mishap

Botham will win his 20th cap on Friday in an international career that has had bursts of activity.

He made his debut against Georgia in the 2020 autumn internationals, but was out in the cold from the summer of 2021 to the 2024 Six Nations.

A knee injury denied Botham the chance to push for Steve Tandy’s first squad in November and he feared the worst when his phone rang in January despite strong form with Cardiff.

“When we get the call it’s sometimes to say we’re not involved,” he said. “My heart sank a bit when I saw it and then Steve told me it was good news.”

After watching Alex Mann, Josh Macleod, Aaron Wainwright, Taine Plumtree and Olly Cracknell get the action in the first two rounds, Botham was called into the 23 to face the Scots.

He grasped his chance when Plumtree was forced off after just nine minutes and the combative flanker is rewarded with a start at open-side against the Irish.

Botham will join forces in the back row with Cardiff team-mate Mann and in-form Wainwright, who trained fully at Aviva Stadium on Thursday morning after overcoming a knock to be named in the XV.

“We need to put in another performance and show what we’ve got,” said Botham.

“Everyone’s excited for it and I’m sure you can see where it’s going. It’s all improvements every game, so hopefully we can just keep going.”

After impressing against Scotland, Botham will attempt to repeat the trick in Dublin with added back-pedaling for restarts.