WHEN Joost van der Westhuizen died earlier this week at the age of 45 after a battle with motor neurone disease (MND) that lasted nearly six years, rugby lost not only one of its greatest scrumhalves, but also a man who showed huge courage, fortitude and dignity in dealing with the terminal illness.
The courage was not surprising to anyone who saw the gifted Springbok No.9 play, not least in leading the charge to tackle Jonah Lomu to a standstill in the 1995 World Cup final. Having been at Ellis Park to watch South Africa beat New Zealand 15-12 one of my lasting impressions was that Van der...