Growing up in South Africa, I only ever had one mission as a youngster: To play rugby for the Springboks. You see, Rugby is a religion in SA. From an early age, young boys are taught to train hard, eat big, lift heavy and hit people (all within the parameters of the game of course!).
And when the Springboks won the World Cup in '95', they enjoyed a god like status over night. One of these men was Joost van der Westhuizen, our warrior like scrum half. For the last few years Joost had been battling motor neuron disease - a terribly debilitating affliction that saw him go from a world class athletic specimen, to being wheel chair bound indefinitely. He sadly lost his battle on the 6th Feb 2017. As a result I felt compelled to share these two videos below. The first is when the late, great Jonah Lomu and Joost met for the final time. The second is the moving final goodbye paid to Jonah at Eden Park.
Both warriors, both humble and both filled to the brim with warrior spirt to the very end.
“‘It’s that rugby spirit’ ”