Frano Michael Botica was born on 3 August 1963 and is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s.
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21 Facts About Frano Botica
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2.
Frano Botica represented New Zealand at both codes, and later played for Croatia in two rugby union World Cup qualifying matches.
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3.
Frano Botica was a member of the All Blacks World Cup winning squad of 1987 and toured with the All Blacks to Britain in 1989 and played in several of the mid-week matches.
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4.
Frano Botica appeared for the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Emerging Players, North Island in the 1986 inter-island match and for the Anzac XV that played the British Lions in Australia in 1989.
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5.
Frano Botica even appeared in the Super 12, once for the Chiefs in 1998.
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6.
Frano Botica played for New Zealand sevens in eight international tournaments between 1985 and 1988, and was part of the first New Zealand team to win a Hong Kong Sevens title in 1986.
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7.
Frano Botica was regarded as more a running player whereas Fox was considered a superior kicker and it was Fox who eventually won the selectors' favour, forcing Frano Botica to the bench and restricting the number of rugby union tests he played.
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8.
Ironically, after switching codes Frano Botica became known as one of the most dependable goal-kickers in rugby league.
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9.
Frano Botica holds the records for the most conversions and points in a Regal Trophy Final.
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10.
Frano Botica played in the 1994 World Club Challenge against the Broncos again, this time at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane.
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11.
Frano Botica returned to New Zealand to play for the Auckland Warriors during their inaugural year in 1995, before returning to England to play for the Castleford Tigers in 1996.
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12.
Frano Botica played in seven internationals for New Zealand between 1991 and 1993.
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13.
Frano Botica then backed that up with a 6-goal performance in the second test in Christchurch.
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14.
Frano Botica's selection had seen him flown in from England for the series after a dispute between the New Zealand Rugby League and Manly-Warringah over compensation saw in-form test incumbent Matthew Ridge become unavailable.
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15.
Frano Botica kicked six goals from eight attempts during the test series.
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16.
Frano Botica was not selected for the test against France at the end of the tour and would never again play a test for the Kiwis.
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18.
In 2009 Frano Botica worked with the New Zealand Warriors as a kicking coach.
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19.
Frano Botica's son Ben is a former member of North Harbour's ITM Cup squad, has represented New Zealand Schoolboys, and currently plays for Aviva Premiership side Harlequin FC Another of Frano Botica's sons, Jacob, plays for Welsh side Dragons in the Pro14 competition.
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20.
In 2016, Frano Botica became head coach of the Philippines national rugby sevens team.
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