Van der Westhuizen, Joost Heystek << vahn duhr VEHST hoy zuhn YOHST HY stehk >> (1971-2017), was a famous South African rugby player. He starred for South Africa’s national Rugby Union team, the Springboks, from 1993 to 2003. (A springbok is an antelope native to South Africa.) Van der Westhuizen also played for the Blue Bulls, a professional team based in his hometown of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa. Van der Westhuizen played scrum-half, which is a ball-handling position between rugby forwards and backs. Known for his size and quickness, Van der Westhuizen scored 38 tries in 89 Test matches (tournament games) over his Springboks career. (A try is scored when any player touches the ball down on the ground in the opponent’s in-goal area.) Van der Westhuizen is considered one of the greatest players in rugby history. He was inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame in 2007, an organization that became the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014. World Rugby is the international governing body for the sport of Rugby Union.
Van der Westhuizen was born in Pretoria on Feb. 20, 1971. He attended the University of Pretoria before starting his professional rugby career with the Blue Bulls (then also called the North Transvaal Rugby Union) in 1992. He played for the team for about 10 years. Meanwhile, he also became part of the national team, the Springboks, in 1993. In 1995, he starred with the Springboks in one of the sport’s most famous matches. That year, Van der Westhuizen bested New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu at the Rugby World Cup hosted by South Africa. South Africa upset the powerhouse New Zealand team 15-12 to win the World Cup final. In 1998, Van der Westhuizen led South Africa to its first Tri Nations title, an annual tournament now known as the Rugby Championship, which at that time included Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Van der Westhuizen served as Springboks team captain for a number of Test matches beginning in 1999. He retired from rugby after the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
In early 2011, Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a motor neuron disease commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. His illness inspired him to start the J9 Foundation to fund ALS research and support victims of the incurable disease. J9 was his nickname after his position and uniform number. The foundation is now part of the Joost van der Westhuizen Centre for Neurodegeneration. Van der Westhuizen died of ALS on Feb. 6, 2017.
