Six Nations 2026: Wales’ Botham receives a baton from Sir Ian after an unfortunate incident

Botham will play his 20th international match on Friday in his international career, which has witnessed a lot of activity.

He made his debut against Georgia in the 2020 Autumn Internationals, but came out cold from the summer of 2021 for the 2024 Six Nations.

A knee injury denied Botham the chance to make a first-team run under Steve Tandy in November and he feared the worst when his phone rang in January despite strong form for Cardiff.

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

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

He took his chance when Plumtree was forced off after just nine minutes and the fighting winger was rewarded with an open-sided start against the Irish.

Botham will join the back row with Cardiff team-mate Man and the in-form Wainwright, who trained fully at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday morning after overcoming a knock to be named in the 15th place.

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

“Everyone is excited about it and I’m sure you can see where it’s going. It’s all getting better every game, so hopefully we can keep it going.”

After impressing against Scotland, Botham will attempt to repeat the trick in Dublin with the addition of a back pedal when racing resumes.