RUGBY PLAYER

Joost van der Westhuizen

1971 - 2017

Photo of Joost van der Westhuizen

Icon of person Joost van der Westhuizen

Joost van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the 1995 tournament, which was won by South Africa. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scrumhalves in the history of this sport. He captained the national side on ten occasions and was part of the team that won South Africa's first Tri-Nations title in 1998. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 16 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 15 in 2024). Joost van der Westhuizen is the 11th most popular rugby player (down from 10th in 2024), the 311th most popular biography from South Africa (down from 255th in 2019) and the 2nd most popular South African Rugby Player.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Joost van der Westhuizen by language

Loading...

Among RUGBY PLAYERS

Among rugby players, Joost van der Westhuizen ranks 11 out of 35. Before him are Francois Pienaar, Léon Binoche, Jonny Wilkinson, Dan Carter, Sergio Parisse, and Richie McCaw. After him are Mike Tindall, Percy Montgomery, Siya Kolisi, Sonny Bill Williams, Antoine Dupont, and Chester Williams.

Most Popular Rugby Players in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1971, Joost van der Westhuizen ranks 885. Before him are Nana Smith, Nikki Ziering, Juan Carlos Henao, Victoria Hamilton, Patrick Sensburg, and Kinga Preis. After him are Válber Costa, Alan van Sprang, Naoko Mori, Junko Noda, Jeffrey Pierce, and Mark Consuelos. Among people deceased in 2017, Joost van der Westhuizen ranks 678. Before him are Angel Espinosa, Fadwa Souleimane, Fredy Schmidtke, Aaron Hernandez, Derek Ibbotson, and Gyöngyi Szalay-Horváth. After him are Moïse Brou Apanga, Tom Alter, David Poisson, Yukinori Miyabe, Gillian Rolton, and Steve Reevis.

Others Born in 1971

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 2017

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Joost van der Westhuizen ranks 311 out of 454. Before him are Lillian Ngoyi (1911), Hector Pieterson (1963), Kumi Naidoo (1965), Ayanda Denge (1982), Sibusiso Zuma (1975), and Rosalyn Fairbank (1960). After him are Zhang Jian (null), Elana Meyer (1966), Doctor Khumalo (1967), Kandyse McClure (1980), Anneline Kriel (1955), and Zahara (1987).

Others born in South Africa

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among RUGBY PLAYERS In South Africa

Among rugby players born in South Africa, Joost van der Westhuizen ranks 2. Before him are Francois Pienaar (1967). After him are Siya Kolisi (1991), Chester Williams (1970), Bryan Habana (1983), Faf de Klerk (1991), Cheslin Kolbe (1993), Eben Etzebeth (1991), Schalk Burger (1983), John Smit (1978), Duane Vermeulen (1986), and Handré Pollard (1994).

South African born Rugby Players

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous