Van der Flier uses ‘God’s gift’

Paris – World Rugby Player-ofthe-Year Josh van der Flier (above) is fondly known at Leinster as “The Dutch Disciple” due to the Irish flanker’s strong faith.

The 29-year-old, whose paternal grandparents are Dutch, admitted to The Times in 2018 that fellow devout Christians might find it odd he has chosen a profession where one aim is to inflict physical pain on one’s opponents.

“Other religious people may disagree, but I think God’s given me a gift to play rugby, and I may as well use it. That’s almost my gift back to God, what I do with that,” he said.

His Irish team-mates, he told The Times, are relaxed about his faith.

“It’s always good-natured, but there’s a joke that I should try to get them on the guest list at the gates of Heaven, sort the boys out, ha, ha!” he said.

One of his abiding principles from The Bible is “be joyful always” and 2022 has, apart from Leinster’s defeat by La Rochelle in the European Champions Cup final, been an ode to joy – both personally and professionally.

He married Sophie, his girlfriend of three years standing, in August – “I have to say that was the highlight otherwise she would kill me!” – and picked up the European and now the World Player-of-the-Year awards.

Van der Flier – also known as the “Man in the Red Cap” due to his headgear – was a pivotal figure in the historic series win over the All Blacks in New Zealand.

The courteous but quietly-spoken flanker, who is not averse to citing Gandhi and Nietzsche, followed that up with an eye-catching performance in the win over world champions South Africa earlier this month.

Van der Flier, whose grandparents moved to Ireland in the 1950s to set up a radiator factory, fits the bill of Andy Farrell’s Irish setup, taking his personal success as being the team’s.

Van der Flier – the family name is pronounced “Fleer” – says his parents work ethic has been an inspiration for him.

“I always looked up to my dad a huge amount,” he said.

It was his dad, Dirk, who got him hooked on rugby, taking him down to their local club when he was five and coaching him. –