Joe van Niekerk of Toulon looks on during the Heineken Cup Pool 2 match between Toulon and Glasgow Warriors at the Felix Mayol Stadium on October 13, 2013 in Toulon, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Joe van Niekerk, affectionately known as ‘Big Joe’, was one of the more popular men to don a Springbok jersey.
In fact, South Africa’s former World Cup-winning coach Jake White still considers him one of the most gifted players he’s ever coached.
But the 38-year-old – who played 52 times for the Springboks – nowadays doesn’t even remotely look like a former Test rugby player!
A photo of Van Niekerk emerged this weekend, where he was visited by former Toulon teammate Pierrick Gunther.
Rugby fans in SA and France had become a bit concerned over the whereabouts of the former flanker, who “disappeared” for about two years.
It turns out Van Niekerk now runs a “psychological fitness centre for burn victims in Costa Rica”.
As the pic shows, he’s truly become a bohemian soul!
Speculation over Van Niekerk’s true state of mind and his health has been rife ever since a random photo on social media went viral in November 2015, where he looked quite ill following his retirement.
Later, a Facebook post from Nourish, a Swellendam-based health shop, in 2016 seemed to suggest that Van Niekerk had merely shed his bulky rugby frame for a more “wellness” type look…
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