Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union player, Died at 45

  Sports

Joost van der Westhuizen was born on February 20, 1971, and died in February 6, 2017.

He was a South African rugby union player.

He made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries.

Westhuizen often played as a scrum-half and took part in three Rugby World Cups, most notably as a member of the South African rugby team that won the 1995 World Cup.

Westhuizen was the captain of the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that took South Africa’s first Tri-Nations title in 1998.

Westhuizen played for Provincial stateside the Blue Bulls 1993– 2003, including two domestic Currie Cup trophies in 1998 and 2002.

During 2007, Westhuizen was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame and later to the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

During 2011, he announced that he had motor neuron disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Westhuizen was forced to become confined to a wheelchair and experienced speech problems, yet still raised awareness of issues relating to MND through his charity, the J9 Foundation.

Joost van der Westhuizen passed away at 45 years old.