“It’s my favourite scar cuz Paul O’Connell did that.” Jim Hamilton on the hardest lock he ever faced.
Jim Hamilton played 63 Tests for Scotland in the second row. The hardest man he met there was Paul O’Connell, and he has the scar.
“Elbowed me in the cheek, broke me cheekbone, didn’t flinch, carried on playing,” Hamilton said. “Still got the scar. And I love it. It’s my favourite scar cuz Paul O’Connell did that.”
Hamilton named Paul O’Connell, Martin Johnson and Brad Thorn as the hardest second rows of his era, and left out Bakkies Botha. He said it on The Rugby Pod with Andy Goode, in the episode published on Tuesday 20 October.
Others rate Botha higher. Keven Mealamu named Botha as his toughest opponent.
Was Bakkies Botha a hard man or a fake tough guy? Pick one below.
Paul O’Connell was the first name
“I would say Paul O’Connell’s one. Okay. Naturally, unassumingly… hard.”
O’Connell won 108 caps for Ireland and played seven Tests for the Lions, and captained the 2009 tour.
Martin Johnson and Brad Thorn made up the three
Second was Martin Johnson, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning captain.
“Number two, Jonno… But hard. Yeah, just hard. Just like an easy hard.”
Third was Brad Thorn, the All Blacks lock who won the 2011 World Cup after a career in rugby league.
“Third, Brad Thorn. Yeah, he was hard. Different. Hard… Rugby league background. So that I just think hard when I see that.”
Why Bakkies Botha missed the cut
Botha’s name came up because Hamilton thought he had seen O’Connell rate him among the hardest. He said himself he could not find the clip again and “might have dreamt it”.
“I didn’t think [Bakkies] was that tough. I thought he was like a fake tough guy,” Hamilton said.
Asked why, he said:
“I think it was a bit of huff and puff. I think he it was a bit more bravado, bit dirtier as opposed to… being hard.”
Botha won 85 caps and the 2007 World Cup in the Springboks second row. He has answered that charge himself. “I am not a thug. I love the [physical] battle, that’s all,” he told Midi Olympique, as Rugby365 reported.
Botha was banned four times in two seasons
Botha was banned four times across 2009 and 2010, according to Planet Rugby’s profile of the Springboks enforcer.
The longest was nine weeks, for headbutting All Blacks scrum-half Jimmy Cowan in July 2010. A year earlier he was banned for two weeks for a charge on Adam Jones in the second Lions Test.
Who Hamilton would fight
The segment started with white-collar boxing, so Hamilton was asked who he would take on.
“I’ll take Jonno now. Don’t know if I’d take Paulie. He’s still in good shape. Just hard. Just bony.”
Two minutes later he came back to it.
“Paul O’Connell, one of the hardest… ever to have played the game, hands down,” Hamilton said.
The Rugby Pod has the whole conversation.
Your turn: O’Connell or Botha?
Botha has 85 caps, a World Cup and four bans in two seasons. Hamilton still left him out.
Who was the hardest lock you ever saw, and does Bakkies make your list? Name him below.
Frequently asked
Who did Jim Hamilton name as the hardest lock?
Paul O’Connell, then Martin Johnson, then Brad Thorn, on The Rugby Pod episode published on 20 October 2026.
What did Jim Hamilton say about Bakkies Botha?
He said he did not think Botha was that tough, calling him “like a fake tough guy” and “a bit dirtier as opposed to… being hard”.
How many caps did Paul O’Connell win?
O’Connell won 108 caps for Ireland and played seven Tests for the British and Irish Lions.
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