Joost van der Westhuizen

Infobox Rugby biography
name = Joost van der Westhuizen


caption =
birthname = Joost van der Westhuizen Heystek
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|df=yes|1971|2|20
placeofbirth = Pretoria, South Africa
dateofdeath =
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height = height|m=1.85
weight = convert|88|kg|stlb|abbr=on
ru_position = scrum-half|capital=yes
ru_amateuryears =
ru_amateurclubs =
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ru_nationalteam = South Africa
ru_nationalyears = 1993–2003
ru_nationalcaps = 89
ru_nationalpoints = (190)
ru_ntupdate = 2007-12-26
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super14 = Bulls
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super14update = 2007-12-26
ru_province = Blue Bulls
ru_provinceyears =
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ru_provincepoints =
ru_provinceupdate =2007-12-26
ru_sevensnationalyears =
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Joost van der Westhuizen (born 20 February 1971) is a former South African rugby union footballer who was the Springboks' first choice scrum-half in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. He was capped 89 times for the Springboks and scored 38 tries. He retired as the most capped Springbok of all time, a record since broken by Percy Montgomery at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and still holds the record for the most test tries by a South African player. His career test try tally of 38 makes him the scrum-half with the most tries in Test Rugby. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest half-backs of all time, as evidenced by his presence in the 2007 induction class of the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

With his steely green eyes and uncharacteristically big build for a scrum-half, he was known as an aggressive and fast runner and ferocious defender. Joost was best suited to a very physical type of game, often mixing it up with the forwards. He enjoyed his greatest success when playing alongside Chester Williams and the great Fullback, Andre Joubert, especially when they attacked at pace around the blind side of the scrum.

He played in the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups. In the former he defended heroically, famously tackling New Zealand's giant wing Jonah Lomu, amongst others leading to the Springbok World Cup victory. Van der Westhuizen's strengths as a rugby player lay in his dangerous ability to 'snipe' around the fringes of rucks, often leading to tries, as well as his fearless defence. Van der Westhuizen was also an inspirational player and captain, a talismanic figure in many successful Springbok sides. Joost played in the 2003 Rugby World Cup before eventually retiring from international rugby, having won every tournament trophy available to a South African rugby player aside from the Super 12.

External links

*Springboks|id=18215|name=Joost van der Westhuizen
*cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/09/02/srjoos102.xml |title=Joost van der Westhuizen wary on South Africa |publisher=telegraph.co.uk |last=Bates |first=Rupert |accessdate=2007-12-26 |date=2007-09-02
*cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/team_pages/south_africa/players_to_watch/2956856.stm |title=Joost van der Westhuizen |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2003-09-24 |accessdate=2007-12-26
*cite web| url=http://www.rugbyhalloffame.com/pages/westhuizen2007.htm |title=Joost van der Westhuizen |publisher=rugbyhalloffame.com |accessdate=2007-12-26
*cite news| url=http://www.scrum.com/1200_1205.php?player=15249&includeref=dynamic |title=Joost Van der Westhuizen |publisher=scrum.com |accessdate=2007-12-26 |date=

Persondata
NAME=Joost van der Westhuizen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=South African rugby union footballer
DATE OF BIRTH=20 February 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH=Pretoria, South Africa
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=