Joost van der Westhuizen

Joost van der Westhuizen

Van der Westhuizen in 2014
Full name	Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen
Date of birth	(1971-02-20)20 February 1971
Place of birth	Pretoria, South Africa
Date of death	6 February 2017(2017-02-06) (aged 45)
Place of death	Johannesburg, South Africa
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
School	Hoërskool F.H. Odendaal
University	University of Pretoria
Occupation(s)	Professional Sportsman
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Scrum-half
Provincial/State sides Years Club / team Apps (points) 1993–2003 Blue Bulls Correct as of 26 December 2007
Super Rugby Years Club / team Apps (points) 1996–2003 Bulls 71 (61) Correct as of 15 September 2012
National team(s) Years Club / team Apps (points) 1993–2003 South Africa 89 (190) Correct as of 15 September 2012

National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Apps	(points)
1993–2003	South Africa	89	(190)
Correct as of 15 September 2012

Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African 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 1995 tournament which was won by South Africa.

He captained the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations title in 1998. Domestically he played for the provincial side the Blue Bulls from 1993 to 2003, with whom he won two domestic Currie Cup trophies in 1998 and 2002, and from 1996 until his retirement in 2003 played Super 12 rugby for Northern Transvaal (later renamed the Bulls). He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2007 and later into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

In 2011, it was announced that van der Westhuizen had motor neurone disease. He eventually became confined to a wheelchair and experienced speech problems, yet still raised awareness of the disease through his charity, the J9 Foundation.

Van der Westhuizen was born on 20 February 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. He was educated at Hoërskool F.H. Odendaal and at the University of Pretoria where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He played for the Junior Springboks in 1992.