One of Greatest Ever Rugby Halfbacks Dies of Motor Neurone Disease

South African Joost van der Westhuizen - one of the greatest rugby halfbacks of all-time - died yesterday, aged 45, after a long public battle with motor neorone disease.

In an international career that spanned 89 tests between 1993 and 2003, van der Westhuizen helped reestablish the Springboks on the global stage after their decades out due to the IRB's Apartheid ban.

He was a crucial part of their famous 1995 World Cup final victory over the All Blacks, and, as a tall, agile halfback, helped redefine the role of the halfback in modern rugby.

van der Westhuizen – who played his entire provincial career for the Blue Bulls - was diagnosed with motor neorone disease in 2009, and endured a very public battle with it over his final eight years.

A EWN report on Joost van der Westhuizen's death yesterday. Source: Youtube.

Told by doctors in 2011 he had only two years to live, the plucky halfback reportedly replied: "stuff them. I decide when I go."

"On behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, our heartfelt condolences to Mr van der Westhuizen's family. My his soul rest in peace."

"South Africa has lost a legend and one of the best rugby players that the country has ever produced," South African president Jacob Zuma said, in a statement.

van der Westhuizen's personal life was not without controversy. The halfback was involved in a drugs scandal several years after his rugby retirement that eventually cost him his marriage.

Yet the South African's personal accountability for his former sins and courage shown fighting his disease over his final years helped re-endear him to South Africa, and the rugby world, at large.

A highlights package of Joost van der Westhuizen tries against the All Blacks. Source: Youtube.

"[He] became an inspiration and hero to many fellow sufferers of this terrible disease as well as to those unaffected," South African rugby president Mark Alexander said.

"We all marveled at his bravery, his fortitude and his uncomplaining acceptance of this terrible burden."

All Black halfback Justin Marshall, who played for New Zealand from 1995 to 2005, was van der Westhuizen's exact contemporary for much of his career.

He wrote, in his NZ Herald column, that for all the South African contributed on the field, he will remember his off-field courage the most.

"He will be remembered for what he did on the field, but I remember him equally for how he went about approaching this disease," Marshall wrote. "He was always positive and tried everything to beat it, but he also gave back.

"I visited Joost in South Africa a few times. The last time was in May 2015 and that was the hardest. He was struggling to speak and hold his head up but still had a smile on his face. [Long-time Australian halfback] George Gregan and I had a couple of brandies with him. Joost still had a glint in his eye.

"Joost could have dealt with this terrible disease as a recluse, and I wonder whether that's something I would have done. But seeing the way he approached it was inspirational."