Joost is an inspiration to us all
23 Dec 2011
MARK KEOHANE, writing in Business Day Sport Monthly, watched a tribute to a legend of the game and felt only hope.
Joost van der Westhuizen does not like me and I’ve never liked him. But that’s pretty irrelevant to this column. I’ve always had the greatest respect for his ability as a rugby player and anyone who questions his pedigree as a player will be made to look foolish.
But I found the recent tribute dinner to Joost overwhelming and moving. I found him so likeable in the way he communicated and I found myself wishing for a miracle cure for his illness. I found myself inspired by a man’s refusal to accept that he is beaten and I found his humility in his darkest hour more glorious than any try he scored, any tackle he made and any match he won for the Springboks.
I’d heard about the evening the South African Rugby Legends Association had arranged to celebrate the life of Joost and I had been told it was something special. Then I found myself flicking through channels on a Sunday afternoon and there was Joost and his 1995 World Cup-winning team-mate Joel Stransky in conversation. I turned up the volume and never turned it down.
I saw a man robbed of his most incredible athletic powers, but it seemed secondary to the remarkable emotional presence when he smiled, laughed, spoke and battled to keep the tears at a safe distance.
So many people had come to see him. To say thank you and good luck. They came to salute a rugby player and they left applauding a man, whose legacy will not be what he did in 89 Tests but what he will do with how many days he has left. What that number is no one knows, but already Joost, with the J9 Foundation and the considerable benevolence of South African businessman Gavin Verajas, has improved the quality of life among those suffering a similar fate of motor neuron disease.
The accusation against Joost as a player was that he took, and took too much for granted. It is common among the world’s finest athletes … those given the physical powers rarely think about the privilege. Often the mind stagnates because it is rarely called on to negotiate a hurdle.
All Joost has now is his mind and the more he spoke the less I seemed to care that the speech was slurred and that this man of just 40 years old was among the most feared players less than a decade ago.
I professionally knew a player who took and now I was watching a man who gave … from his heart. It wasn’t the gifts he handed out or the many people he thanked. It was the joy he seemed to get out of knowing he could influence the quality of life among what he called his new team-mates – those hit by motor neuron disease, a condition for which there is no explanation and no cure.
‘It is not how long you have but the quality of those days,’ he said during the evening. ‘Initially I asked “why me” and then I asked “why not me?”’
I thought I would feel pity but never have I been so wrong. I saw someone who reminded me that we breathe to live and not to suffocate, and that if we give of ourselves, so do others.
The entire evening also emphasised why rugby is unique and why the traditions among players must be promoted and not buried in the avalanche of cash.
Joost’s two greatest rivals George Gregan and Justin Marshall sat next to him and said they’d be there for him in every way needed. They once were gladiators who only knew each other through combat. Now they were men determined to leave a legacy greater than a rugby memory.
There were so many lessons for the younger players, but it would be ridiculous to think they could have the emotional appreciation just yet, but to the game’s custodians there is no such excuse of youth and naivety.
An environment has to be created for players to mingle after battle and the ceremonial pomp associated with these gatherings should never diminish.
It is why I will always want to see the Barbarians play, but for God’s sake create a situation designed for success and not the hopeless failure we saw against Australia at Twickenham. Percy Montgomery played against Gregan for 10 years and never exchanged a word with him outside the game. He tells me they spent a week together with the Barbarians and it was fabulous. So too so many other players.
The South African Rugby Legends Association has no equal in rugby union. It helps that the man who financially gives so much is so in love with the game, but the cash contributions of Verajas could not survive without the intent and goodwill of former Boks like John Allan. Get these men of substance involved with the professional game so that it is a game that gives more than it takes.
Rugby, so powerful in creating opportunity and so cruel in crushing hope, is so much more than a World Cup-winning result.
It is also so much more than cash. It is about people, who we rarely get to know. We see the players, honour them and abuse them, and then we see the next generation.
It shouldn’t take tragedy to force a rethink in how we view the game, its traditions and most importantly its players.
I watched a tribute to a legend of the game and when I thought I’d feel despair I felt only hope.
Hopefully those entrusted as custodians of South African rugby felt a similar desire to give and not take.
– This column appears in the January issue of Business Day Sport Monthly, on sale now at selected retailers.
58 Comments
23 Dec 2011, 12:50 pm
Joost…………………………………..an awesome dragon.
South Africa’s best,
And the Worlds second best,
in my living memory.
This is a much tougher battle.
23 Dec 2011, 12:57 pm
Joost was indeed a good player, on the grass.
Let’s leave it at that – his off field battles are his own and do not deserve air time.
Rather tell me about some star other doing well on the grass.
23 Dec 2011, 13:12 pm
@Santa cane-1:
true cane, true…
i wish him him all the best and hope some kind of treatment works..
who is your ‘world best’?
23 Dec 2011, 13:15 pm
Gareth.
23 Dec 2011, 13:18 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-3:
Joost, Gregan and Marshall.
To shine in that company, you needed to be most excellent.
23 Dec 2011, 13:24 pm
@Santa cane-5:
all the best to you and your family for Christmas and have another grumpy new year
8)
23 Dec 2011, 13:34 pm
@charo-6:
And also to you, RL and Bakkies.
It should be a most interesting year.
8)
23 Dec 2011, 14:49 pm
Well written Keo! Joost, Gregan and Marshall… wow, what a golden age that was for scrummies.
23 Dec 2011, 15:07 pm
I feel sorry for Joost!!
In RSA you are a someone when you are lining some other persons pockets. Joost should have got support from his union and SARU when he was a youngster then we would not have heard all his off field kak.
Such a legend that would have had a higher status! You were the best scrum half of your era mr Joost just your boots were a little too big for you off the field.
What happened in Bulawayo so many years back left a sour taste in many bok supporter zimbos!
23 Dec 2011, 15:22 pm
It is also so much more than cash. It is about people, who we rarely get to know. We see the players, honour them and abuse them, and then we see the next generation.
It shouldn’t take tragedy to force a rethink in how we view the game, its traditions and most importantly its players.
I watched a tribute to a legend of the game and when I thought I’d feel despair I felt only hope.
Hopefully those entrusted as custodians of South African rugby felt a similar desire to give and not take.
Mark, you as a rugby journalist are also a custodian of the game. Your responsibility to the game, its players and supporters are in some ways more important than those of the administrators.
You have always been an excellent writer, like this piece proves, perhaps you can become a brilliant rugby writer because god knows we need some.
23 Dec 2011, 15:23 pm
As for Joost, I also stumbled upon this program one day – I could not watch it.
But I have a feeling Joost will become an even greater inspiration now than what he was as a rugby player.
Go well Joost, all the best.
23 Dec 2011, 16:12 pm
@wallabie.-9:
“Joost should have got support from his union and SARU when he was a youngster then we would not have heard all his off field kak”.
Nope, I do not agree– he had all the support, adulation, money and everything ….. nothing more SARU could do – He was one of the best rugby players we ever had- and got rewarded for it – but behind it all he was only a human- like all of us- with strenghts and weaknessess – thats just life.
23 Dec 2011, 16:56 pm
Inspirational indeed, good job Keo
Joost stay strong
Keo how about a trip down memory lane and do a range of articles on the greatest games Joost played
23 Dec 2011, 17:28 pm
Interesting how illness or death can make us all so reflective!
23 Dec 2011, 18:19 pm
Keo, this article speaks to all who see through the rivalries and tribalries. You have set the bar for sportsmanship.
23 Dec 2011, 18:46 pm
@H-8:
Yes Just add Gareth Edwards and you have the 4 best scrummies in the world ever.
Be strong Joost thanks for the rugby memories
23 Dec 2011, 18:51 pm
adulation arrogance and pride
other side of the coin is disease humility and pain
you want fame and fortune and all the bells and whistles that come with it prepare to pay the exact price if you unable to harness the rampant ego riddled mind in all its rampant ego riddled glory
humans still think this planet is all about a fantastical joy ride, forget it.. get with the program and know the cost of freedom… buried in the ground… mother earth will swallow you…. lay your body down…
23 Dec 2011, 19:13 pm
All the best Joost and thank you for showing us Keohane’s marshmallow side.
23 Dec 2011, 20:24 pm
Must be the hardest thing to face, very mangnanimous and nice deeds he is doing here.
23 Dec 2011, 21:25 pm
@Santa cane-4:
ok, fair enough.
the 71 and 74 lions tours were outrageous enough anomalies i suppose.
@Santa cane-5:
flip man, some of those games if i think back to them… really brings a tear to the eye… (and i’m a tiger who doesn’t cry…)
@Santa cane-7:
cheers cane… cheers indeed…and compliments of course to you and the fam.
for you guys, i just want the boks to moer you’s hehehe but for rl…well, thats a whole other level of interest hahaha
gotta love rugy hehe…
cheers
23 Dec 2011, 22:09 pm
a well written piece Keo. One of your better efforts. I too felt the same when watching that video. It was in stark contrast to the Joost I had come to know. Wise words indeed.
My best seasons greetings to all my fellow bloggers, your families and loved ones. I look forward to continued banter on this side and hope I have more time to do so in future. This has been one hellava year.
23 Dec 2011, 22:37 pm
No contest, Joost was the best 9 ever. Gareth Edwards was good, but not a patch on Joost – not even close. Joost would have chewed him up and spat him out.
23 Dec 2011, 22:43 pm
Joost was a great athlete and a very good rugby player.
I wasn’t the biggest fan, and his behaviour off the pitch didn’t help really.
I do however wish him all the best with his fight.
23 Dec 2011, 23:14 pm
Great piece, keo. Kudos for that. I happened to sit through the video and also couldn’t pull myself away.
Joost had that bulldog tone on the field, not ever wanting to give up. It was his front-on tackle on Jomo Lomu in the ’95 final that I felt set the scene for the rest of the match. Joost set the example. Others followed.
Now he has a major fight on his hands. And he still has that fighting spirit.
Hang in there, Joost.
23 Dec 2011, 23:23 pm
@TASSIES-21:
Hi Tassies… Ditto !
24 Dec 2011, 01:59 am
Danie Craven, Dawie de Villiers, Divan Serfontein, Joost Vd Westhuizen
These were the great SA scrumhalves would all eat mama’s boy prima donna Fourie du Preez for after dinner pudding pie
Joost had guts and spirit, something FdP could do well to emulate, young Francois Hougaard got some that gutsy spirit too.
FdP, John Smit, Pierre Spies should not have started the 2011 quarter final vs Australia and Boks would have gone to semi’s and quite likely to the final too.
Fighting spirit on a rugby field is one thing, Joost gotta transfer that to life now, but the greatest fight is knowing how and when to die, that takes more guts than clinging out of fear to life.
24 Dec 2011, 03:49 am
Marvellous piece of writing about a marvellous rugby player, albeit one with too many personal vanities to ever be an equally marvellous human being.
24 Dec 2011, 06:16 am
@ Wallabie. Not just in RSA cobber. Does the name Quade Cooper ring a bell?
24 Dec 2011, 09:33 am
First problem was that the South African media got hold of his story and made him out to be a criminal.
Second problem was that he LIED.
South Africans should learn to man up and get it all out as quickly as possible. The effects will not last as long.
Hansie and Joost will always be remembered for the wrong reasons which overshadows their accomplishments.
Very sad and unfortunate.
24 Dec 2011, 10:48 am
Read this article on Joost from keo in last weeks paper. One of your best articles Keo. Well said.
All the best to Joost. In rugby he gave us his best and was imo our best sh.
24 Dec 2011, 10:53 am
To all the bloggers on keo.
Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and all the very best for the New Year. Whatever you all doing enjoy just don’t drink and drive.
May our Boks be the first to whip the ABs next year…lol. Also all the best to all our S15 teams we support.
24 Dec 2011, 10:55 am
@Santa cane-7: Cane if you looking in. HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the 26th.
24 Dec 2011, 11:33 am
This from iafrica.com:
Former French international fly-half Frederic Michalak, who is currently on the books of the Sharks in South Africa, has reached a verbal agreement on a three-year contract to play for Toulon.
“Nothing has been signed but there is a verbal agreement on a contract for three years,” said Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal, who added that the deal would start on July 1, 2012.
“I think he will be a Toulon player next season. He has been impressed by the chance to play with Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau. We need four to five players of a very high level and, if he signs, Fred will be the start of that.”
With Wilkinson dominant at fly-half, Boudjellal said that Michalak would feature at scrum-half.
“It’s a good thing,” said coach Bernard Laporte. “We have been talking for a month. He is a name and this will be his last sporting challenge.
“He will come and play at scrum-half, he knows that. His age and experience will help him in this position.”
Michalak, 29, played scrum-half as well as outside-half at Toulouse before he left for the Sharks where he had already played in 2007 and 2008, winning the Currie Cup in the process.
At Toulouse, where he made his debut in 1998, Michalak won the French title in 2001 and three European Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2010.
He played 54 times for France, featuring in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, but hasn’t played for the national side since March 2010.
24 Dec 2011, 11:35 am
This also from iafrica.com:
Toulouse’s South Africa hooker Gary Botha broke his right leg in Friday’s French Top 14 win over Montpellier and will be ruled out for up to four months.
The 30-year-old was stretchered off early in the first half of the champions’ 45-25 victory after his leg buckled beneath him in a tackle.
“We are happy with the win but disappointed by the injury suffered by Botha who has broken his leg,” said Toulouse coach Yannick Bru.
Botha, who has played 12 times for the Springboks after making his debut against Australia in 2005, joined Toulouse from the Bulls in the summer having also spent two seasons at Harlequins.
24 Dec 2011, 12:58 pm
@wallabie.-9: “What happened in Bulawayo so many years back left a sour taste in many bok supporter zimbos!”
What ‘happened’ in Bulawayo?
24 Dec 2011, 13:17 pm
@Puma-32:
I am humbled.
Truely.
24 Dec 2011, 13:31 pm
Condolences to Zithulele Sinque’s family.
So very sad to hear of the tragic death of Zithulele. He died on Thursday night in a car crash.
He was a world class runner and what a tragedy his time came in the isolation years. Always remember the rivalry between him, Temane, Motolo. World class runners all of them. Remember Temane and Sinque breaking the world cup half marathon record in the South African Champs in 1987. Temane crossed the line first with Sinque a nose behind. Both cloced the same time 60.11 that record stood for a incredible 10 years. But so sad it was not recognised because of the isolation against South Africa. What a shame really.
In 1986 Sinque broke the then SA marathon record in a time of 2:08 Motolo was 11sec behind. At the time that was the 5th fastest in the world. Since then the SA record has been broken.
What stars in the long distance running we had those years. Matthews Batswadi, Matthews Temane, Matthews Motshwarateu, Zithulele Sinque and Kenny Jacobs. The greatest out of them was Temane and Sinque. Such a shame their time came during the isolation years. Must have hurt not to compete against the worlds best from other countries (other than against the worlds best that were their fellow South Africans) knowing that they were the worlds best at the time. What a shame.
I remember all of them as used to see them at most of the races every Sunday and Saturday the cross country races.
Sinque also won the Two Oceans Marthon in 96 and 97.
Out of the runners I mentioned above 3 have since past away. Kenny Jacobs, Motshwarateu and now Sinque.
24 Dec 2011, 13:33 pm
@Puma-37: cloced = clocked
24 Dec 2011, 13:35 pm
@Santa cane-36: Enjoy it Cane.
Yip we have our birthdays only 10 days apart and the same age mate. Both 56 now. Heck the years are flying…haha. Need to just have a blast everyday from here. I do most of the time……hahah. Still feel like 30.
Will have a glass of red for you tonight. We off for a huge Christmas Eve Dinner.
24 Dec 2011, 14:04 pm
@Puma-39:
Remind me Puma,
Am I the Senior or the Junior ?
24 Dec 2011, 14:12 pm
@Santa cane-40: Your are the Junior..
I am 10 whole days your Senior….LOL.
See it is Christmas in NZ already. So have a wonderful Christmas Cane and all the best for the New Year.
May my beloved Boks beat the first to beat your World Champs in 2012. That is on top of my wish list then the Sharks winning the S15….
24 Dec 2011, 14:13 pm
@Puma-41: meant – be the first to beat..etc…
24 Dec 2011, 14:34 pm
@Puma-41:
55, it was a good year.
8)
24 Dec 2011, 15:27 pm
I met Joost in Aberdeen, Scotland when he toured in 1994 with the Boks. Later I met him in PE when the Bulls played EP, pre 1995 RWC. I always admired his skills on the park, there were none quite like him.
He is a great fighter, and I sincerely hope a cure can be found to keep him with us for many years to come.
His private life should remain just that. I doubt there are many of us who can put their hands up to being “pure as driven snow”?
24 Dec 2011, 16:18 pm
@wallabie – what happened in Bulawayo? I was there a few times when the Bulls toured
24 Dec 2011, 16:19 pm
@Santa cane-43:
Happy Christmas Cane and to all the other kiwi bloggers.
And that includes you too BP. I know you’re out there somewhere.
24 Dec 2011, 16:26 pm
@Puma-37:
I second that. It was a golden period for road running in SA. A lot of household names mentioned there.
24 Dec 2011, 16:40 pm
@Santa cane-43: For me too mate. Hope 56 is another great year.
24 Dec 2011, 16:49 pm
@IAAS-47: Is sure was a special time for our runners. We had world class runners, running world records during that time. Not one but a few. Such a shame it came during our isolation time.
Such a shame to know that 3 of those runners have since died.
24 Dec 2011, 16:50 pm
@Puma-49: typo – Is = It
Have not had a drop of wine yet either….
Okay out of here now.
Enjoy whatever you all doing tonight and tomorrow.
24 Dec 2011, 17:28 pm
Still waiting for the Bulawayo riddle to be solved…
24 Dec 2011, 18:51 pm
@Santa cane-43: @Puma-50:
real lighties you two are…
if you were at the same school as me i wouldn’t even recognise you.
long live the vintage of ’53
8)
25 Dec 2011, 16:31 pm
Get well, Joost, and thanks for great rugby memories.
Peaceful Christmas to everyone here.
25 Dec 2011, 22:27 pm
Wonderfully and honestly written Keo. This will make me come back to this site. Hope 2012 posts will be more on rugby and less on stupid personal attacks and racism.
26 Dec 2011, 14:11 pm
@charo-52:
53,
Pre Rock and Roll.
Did they have talkies?
8)
2 Jan 2012, 16:18 pm
@wooden spoon-51: Well it is now 2012 and I too would like to know what happened in Bulawayo?
8 Jan 2012, 22:21 pm
good luck joost, one the AB’s greatest honured enemies.
11 Jan 2012, 13:43 pm
Joost remains one of the Titans! Is it any surprise that he has decided to tackle this issue head-on?! The mark of a true champion. All the best to Joost and his kids. You fight on brother!!
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