Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen has been praised by former Scotland star Doddie Weir as the toughest player he ever faced.

Van der Westhuizen tops Weir’s five-man list of those who really stuck it to him on the field, followed by Welshman Scott Quinnell, Kiwi Jonah Lomu, and Englishmen Richard Hill and Simon Shaw. 

Regarded as one of the greatest scrumhalves of the game, Van der Westhuizen was capped 89 times and played in three World Cups, his first as a key member of the Boks’ maiden win in 1995. He died in 2017.

Singled out in his autobiography, My Name’s DODDIE, Weir said of Van der Westhuizen: “From a rival who almost single-handedly ended my career as an international No 8, to a standard-bearer in the fight against motor neurone disease, and, eventually, a victim of this cruel disease. He was unstoppable on his day.”