Joost van der westhuizen cause of death

South African rugby union player

Rugby player

van der Westhuizen playing for South Africa in
Birth name	Joost van der Westhuizen
Date of birth	()20 February
Place of birth	Pretoria, South Africa
Date of death	6 February () (aged&#;45)
Place of death	Johannesburg, South Africa
Height	&#;m (6&#;ft 2&#;in)
Weight	90&#;kg (14&#;st 2&#;lb; &#;lb)
School	Hoërskool F.H. Odendaal
University	University of Pretoria
Occupation(s)	Professional Sportsman
Position(s) Scrum-half Years Team Apps (Points) – Blue Bulls () Correct&#;as of 26 December Years Team Apps (Points) – Bulls 71 (61) Correct&#;as of 15 September Years Team Apps (Points) – South Africa 89 () – Springboks (non test) 22 (90) Correct&#;as of 15 September

Joost van der Westhuizen (20 February – 6 February ) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries.

He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the tournament, which was won by South Africa. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scrumhalves in the history of this sport.^[1]

He captained the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations title in Domestically he played for the provincial side the Blue Bulls from to , with whom he won two domestic Currie Cup trophies in and , and from until his retirement in played Super 12 rugby for Northern Bulls (later renamed the Bulls).

He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in and later into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

In , it was announced that van der Westhuizen had motor neurone disease. He eventually began using a wheelchair and experienced speech problems, yet still raised awareness of the disease through his charity, the J9 Foundation.^[2]

Early life

Van der Westhuizen was born on 20 February in Pretoria, South Africa.^[3] He was educated at Hoërskool F.H.

Odendaal and at the University of Pretoria where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree.^[4] He played for the Junior Springboks in

Rugby career

Van der Westhuizen spent his entire provincial career with South African side the Blue Bulls, from until , whereupon he retired from playing rugby.^[2][5] He played Super 12 for Northern Bulls (later renamed the Bulls) from the competition's inception in until his retirement in ^[6]

He spent his entire career as a scrum-half, despite standing 6&#;ft 2 ins, an unusually tall height for a player in this position.^[7]

He was known for finding and penetrating the tiniest gaps in opposition defences.^[8]

His first international cap came aged 22 against Argentina in Buenos Aires on the tour.^[9] The following year he scored two tries in a memorable performance against Scotland at Murrayfield.^[10][11]

South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup.

This was their first time playing in a World Cup, a consequence of the previous apartheid.^[12] In the final the Springboks faced New Zealand, who were favourites to win the tournament. On New Zealand's wing was Jonah Lomu, an emergent talent, capable of making powerful runs from deep.

Lomu was effectively marked by Van der Westhuizen who made several key tackles, including one just outside the 22m line.^[13][14] In , he captained South Africa's Sevens team to the final at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, where they were beaten by Fiji.^[15]

Van der Westhuizen was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations series title in ^[16] He captained the Bulls to the Currie Cup.^[17] He first captained the South Africa team in ^[18] That year South Africa finished third at the World Cup.^[19] After the tournament he discovered he had sustained a serious injury to ligaments in his knee in a match a fortnight earlier.^[20] Injuries sustained while on international duty led to him missing the greater parts of three consecutive Super 12 seasons in , and ^[21]

In November , he became the first person to play one hundred matches for the Springboks.^[18] Welsh club side Newport RFC had tried to sign him in , but there was pressure on him to play his domestic rugby in South Africa, to be eligible for selection for the national side.^[22] His selection for the World Cup made him the first person to represent South Africa at three finals.^[23] The team met the All Blacks in the quarter-finals and were beaten.^[24]

In November , van der Westhuizen retired from international rugby, at which point he was South Africa's record test cap holder with 89, and record test try scorer with ^[25] He had made appearances for South Africa in total, captained them in ten tests,^[6] and scored points for his country.^[26]

International statistics

Test Match Record

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

Test tries (38)

Tries	Opposition	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	&#;Argentina	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium	Test match	6 Nov	Won 29–26
1	&#;Argentina	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium	Test match	13 Nov	Won 52–23
1	&#;Argentina	Johannesburg, South Africa	Ellis Park Stadium	Test match	15 Oct	Won 46–26
2	&#;Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	Murrayfield	Test match	19 Nov	Won 34–10
1	&#;England	London, England	Twickenham	Test match	18 Nov	Won 24–14
1	&#;New Zealand	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld	Test match	24 Aug	Lost 26–33
2	&#;New Zealand	Johannesburg, South Africa	Ellis Park Stadium	Test match	31 Aug	Won 32–22
1	&#;Argentina	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium	Test match	9 Nov	Won 46–15
3	&#;Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Cardiff Arms Park	Test match	15 Dec	Won 35–20
1	&#;Tonga	Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands	Test match	10 Jun	Won 74–10
1	&#;British Lions	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park Stadium	Test match	28 Jun	Lost 15–18
1	&#;British Lions	Johannesburg, South Africa	Ellis Park Stadium	Test match	5 Jul	Won 35–16
1	&#;New Zealand	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	Tri Nations Series	9 Aug	Lost 35–55
1	&#;Ireland	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld	Test match	20 Jun	Won 33–0
1	&#;Wales	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld	Test match	27 Jun	Won 96–13
1	&#;England	Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands	Test match	4 Jul	Won 18–0
1	&#;Australia	Perth, Australia	Subiaco Oval	Tri Nations Series	18 Jul	Won 14–13
1	&#;New Zealand	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park Stadium	Tri Nations Series	15 Aug	Won 24–23
1	&#;Wales	London, England	Wembley	Test match	14 Nov	Won 28–20
1	&#;Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	Murrayfield	Test match	21 Nov	Won 35–10
1	&#;Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Test match	28 Nov	Won 27–13
1	&#;New Zealand	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld	Tri Nations Series	7 Aug	Lost 18–34
1	&#;Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	Murrayfield	World Cup	3 Oct	Won 46–29
1	&#;Uruguay	Glasgow, Scotland	Hampden Park	World Cup	15 Oct	Won 39–3
1	&#;England	Paris, France	Stade de France	World Cup	24 Oct	Won 44–21
1	&#;England	Bloemfontein, South Africa	Free State Stadium	Test match	24 Jun	Lost 22–27
1	&#;Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Test match	19 Nov	Won 28–18
1	&#;Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	Test match	26 Nov	Won 23–13
2	&#;Italy	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Boet Erasmus Stadium	Test match	30 Jun	Won 60–14
1	&#;Italy	Genoa, Italy	Stadio Luigi Ferraris	Test match	17 Nov	Won 54–26
3	&#;Uruguay	Perth, Australia	Subiaco Oval	World Cup	11 Oct	Won 72–6

World Cup matches

&#; Champions &#; Runners-up &#; Third place &#; Fourth place

No.	Date	Opposition	Venue	Stage	Position	Tries	Result
1.	25 May	&#;Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	Pool match	Scrumhalf	27–18
2.	3 Jun	&#;Canada	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Pool match	Substitute	20–0
3.	10 Jun	&#;Samoa	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Quarter-final	Scrumhalf	42–14
4.	17 Jun	&#;France	Kings Park, Durban	Semi-final	Scrumhalf	19–15
5.	24 Jun	&#;New Zealand	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Final	Scrumhalf	15–12
6.	3 Oct	&#;Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Pool match	Scrumhalf (c)	1	46–29
7.	10 Oct	&#;Spain	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Pool match	Substitute	47–3
8.	15 Oct	&#;Uruguay	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Pool match	Scrumhalf (c)	1	39–3
9.	24 Oct	&#;England	Stade de France, Paris	Quarter-final	Scrumhalf (c)	1	44–21
	30 Oct	&#;Australia	Twickenham, London	Semi-final	Scrumhalf (c)	21–27
	4 Nov	&#;New Zealand	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Third place play-off	Scrumhalf (c)	22–18
	11 Oct	&#;Uruguay	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Pool match	Scrumhalf (c)	3	72–6
	18 Oct	&#;England	Subiaco Oval, Perth	Pool match	Scrumhalf	6–25
	1 Nov	&#;Samoa	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Pool match	Scrumhalf	60–10
	8 Nov	&#;New Zealand	Telstra dome, Melbourne	Quarter-final	Scrumhalf	9–29

Awards and honours

He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in ,^[27] and in became a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame when the International Hall was merged with it.^[28]

Private life and controversy

In , he and his wife of six years, Marlene,^[29] divorced, shortly before he married Amor Vittone.^[30] He had two children with Vittone.^[31]

In February , Rapport newspaper and Heat magazine reported that they had video evidence of him engaging in sex play with a mystery blonde and snorting a white substance.^[32]Charmaine Weavers claimed to have had an affair with him in an interview with YOU magazine.

His marriage to Vittone fell apart.^[2] At the end of March he lost his job as a television presenter with the South African broadcaster SuperSport.^[33]

On 28 June , he was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack,^[34] although he was discharged soon afterward when tests found no evidence of heart problems.

A panic attack was suspected.^[35] On 1 November, coinciding with the release of his autobiography Spieëlbeeld ("Man in the mirror"), van der Westhuizen confessed to being in the controversial sex video and apologised for lying.^[36]

In a telephone interview in August with BBC Sports correspondent James Peacock, he spoke about facing up to the controversy.

"What I did went against all my principles - my life was controlled by my mind and I had to make my mistakes to realise what life is all about, I led my life at a hundred miles an hour. I've learned that there are too many things that we take for granted in life and it's only when you lose them that you realise what it is all about.

But I know that God is alive in my life and with experience you do learn. I can now talk openly about the mistakes I made because I know my faith won't give up and it won't diminish. It's only when you go through what I am going through that you understand that life is generous."^[37]

Illness and death

In May , van der Westhuizen's publicist confirmed that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.^[38] Some weakness had first been noticed in his right arm near the end of , but he had put this down to the aftereffects of an old rugby injury.^[39] A few months later, Dr Kelbrick, his personal doctor and a family friend, noticed his right arm weakness and arranged for tests.^[38] At that time, Van der Westhuizen was given between two and five years to live.^[39]

An August BBC Sport report illustrated the progress of his disease – by then, Van der Westhuizen was using a wheelchair, and his speech had grown increasingly slurred.

He told reporter James Peacock,^[39]

I realise every day could be my last. It's been a rollercoaster from day one and I know I'm on a deathbed from now on. I've had my highs and I have had my lows, but no more.

Jonah lomu cause of death

Joost van der westhuizen height

When was joost klein born

Joost van der westhuizen wife

Jonah lomu wife

I'm a firm believer that there's a bigger purpose in my life and I am very positive, very happy.

In January , he returned to the United States to participate in clinical studies with ALS researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He planned to visit the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Center in New York City, which provides support to MND patients, as Van der Westhuizen hoped to start a similar organisation in South Africa.^[40] He set up a charitable organisation, the J9 Foundation, to raise awareness, funds and to support research.^[41] He regularly spent time with his children, Jordan and Kylie.^[39]

A feature-length documentary, Glory Game, directed by Odette Schwegler, followed him for a period while he was dealing with having motor neurone disease.

It was broadcast in on DStv Box Office.^[42]

On 4 February he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Fourways Life Hospital in Johannesburg where he was placed on a ventilator. He died at his home in Johannesburg surrounded by his family^[43] on Monday, 6 February , at the age of ^[44][45] A public memorial service was scheduled for 10 February at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.^[46]

See also

References

External links