South Africa scrum-half and rugby "genius" Joost Van der Westhuizen comes to ...

That match, which South Africa won 34-10, has entered the Springboks’ annals

as the beginning of a journey that would end at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park,

six months later, with a tumultuous World

Cup victory. It was also the match that established Van der

Westhuizen as the finest scrum-half in the world. In time, with his

combination of pace and power and his mastery of the technical demands of

his role, he would be hailed as the best rugby player on earth.

He knew it, too. The rugby gods who had showered Van der Westhuizen with

blessings never bothered to add humility to the mix. His haughtiness meant

he was always more admired than liked, but the illness that has brought him

to his knees over the past three years has also brought forth friends he

never knew he had, and an understanding of a few deeper things in life.

“I want to be a better person,” he says. “There were times in my career when

people said I was arrogant, I only cared about myself. Now I know that they

were right. It is really about giving and caring for others.”

His children are his most pressing consideration. “You can imagine that if

someone gives you a death sentence when you have a family and you have young

kids of five and seven then you are going to feel pretty bad. It took me

about a year and a half to come to terms with it.

“But then I just woke up one morning and I decided I would lead the rest of my

life positively. I realise that I am still alive and that I don’t want to be

remembered by my family as being a negative person who moaned about life. I

want to be happy and I want them to be happy, and that will make it easier

on them.”

Heyneke Meyer, the South Africa coach, described Van der Westhuizen as a

fighter the other day. His body may be weakening, but his resolve goes

stronger every day as he devotes himself to raising awareness of motor

neurone disease and funds for its sufferers.

“I have to fight, not just for me but for all the other sufferers,” he says.

“In South Africa there has been no research; the disease is hidden. People

have had no information, so I decided that I would do what I could to help

them. That keeps me going and it makes me happy to see some benefits.”

The Springboks’ visit to Europe has given him a lever to do even more. In Wales

last weekend he hosted a star-studded gathering in aid of his J9 Foundation.

In Scotland,

he has been working on behalf of Edinburgh University’s Euan MacDonald

Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research. His days are savagely numbered,

but he is filling them with everything he can.

“I surround myself with good people, positive people,” he says. “My two kids,

now seven and nine, keep me up and give me pleasure. I have decided that I

am going to give them a dad as long as possible. For me tiso be able

to do that I have to be very strong.

“When I told my boy I was coming here to see a doctor, he said: ‘Daddy, when

you come back will you be better? I want you to play with me.’ When they

were younger I used to play with them on the lawn all the time, so it is

very difficult. My daughter really wants me to pick her up and hug her, and

that is hard.”

For others, too. “You almost think things don’t happen to people like that,”

Meyer said. “It was a huge shock for me. We are very close. It just shows

that you have to live life to the full. You have to make use of every single

second out there and enjoy life because there are a lot of other guys who

can’t.”

Van der Westhuizen will be at Murrayfield for Scotland’s meeting with South

Africa on Sunday. The memories of a match that was, arguably, the greatest

demonstration of his genius will come flooding back. Those eyes will light

up again. And he will smile.

Article source: http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/23122.php

South Africa scrum-half and rugby "genius" Joost Van der Westhuizen comes to ...