Joost remembered at Loftus
PRETORIA. - An aeroplane flew over Loftus Versfeld - its smoke forming the No. 9 in the Pretoria sky — as one of the city’s greatest sporting heroes was laid to rest yesterday.
South African rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen’s public memorial service drew a crowd that was clad in Springbok green and Bulls blue.
Bill Beaumont, president of World Rugby, flew in from Dublin.
Morne du Plessis, Joel Stransky, Os du Randt, John Smit, Naas Botha, Breyton Paulse, Stefan Terblanche, Francois Pienaar were just a few of the former Boks in attendance.
This was a “goodbye” to a man that is largely considered to be one of the greatest scrum-halves in the history of the game.
Van der Westhuizen died on Monday after a long battle with motor neuron disease, but the atmosphere hovering over Loftus Versfeld yesterday suggested that his legacy will live on.
“He is a legend of the game. A hallof-famer and one of the greats,” Beaumont told Sport24.
“We will make sure that we do something to honour his legacy in the years to come. There will be an award in his name, or something like that.”
Van der Westhuizen’s death is obviously still fresh.
His wife, Amor Vittone, looked sombre as she was wheeled to the stage behind Van der Westhuizen’s casket.
Vittone arrived in a wheelchair and with a cast on her left leg.
Sports minister Fikile Mbalula had walked to the stage first, and behind him was the team of pall-bearers, led by 1995 World Cup winning captain Francois Pienaar and Du Plessis.
A problem with the sound system meant that Terblanche, facilitating proceedings, was forced to start the national anthem without any music.
Fortunately for him, PJ Powers was in the Loftus stands and she belted out the anthem in what was a truly touching moment.
Before all of the tributes began, Van der Westhuizen’s coffin was wrapped in the South African flag by the South African police.
The coffin of van der Westhuizen was borne by his 1995 World-Cup-winning teammates at an official funeral service yesterday.
The scrum-half, who won 89 caps and scored 38 tries for the Springboks between 1993 and 2003, died on Monday aged 45 after a six-year battle with motor neurone disease.
Hailed as the best scrum-half of the modern era, the South African is credited with transforming the way the game is played, as opposition teams laboured to counter his pace and strength.
Van der Westhuizen famously stopped the juggernaut that was Jonah Lomu in the final of the 1995 World Cup, becoming synonymous with South Africa’s ultimate 15-12 triumph over New Zealand.
Mark Andrews, who played alongside the late van der Westhuizen in that match, said that his former teammate was as fierce in fighting his illness as he had been on the rugby field.
“He was a competitor until the end,” said Andrews. “There was nothing that stood in his way of being a champion.
“He never gave up, he didn’t know how to. He treated his illness in the same way. They gave him a couple of years to live and six years later he has only just succumbed.”
The diagnosis of a terminal illness prompted van der Westhuizen to change his approach to life, as he explained to an interviewer: “I am a better person now. I became an arrogant person and now I’m back to the reality of life and what is important.”
Van der Westhuizen set up a charity, the J9 Foundation, in order to raise awareness and funds for research into motor neurone disease, for which there is currently no cure. - Sport24.