Back during his rugby playing days, ‘Big Joe’ van Niekerk became one of the first true ‘poster boys’ of the game, with the blonde dynamo featuring in 52 Tests between 2001 and 2010.

In 2002, he was voted the South African “Player of the Year”, while at domestic level he enjoyed prolific career stints with the Lions, Western Province/Stormers and Toulon in France.

However, after retiring from rugby in 2014 after winning the French Top 14 and European Champions Cup with Toulon, he navigated a fascinating pathway from rugby player to community leader of a healing sanctuary in Costa Rica.

Joe van Niekerk has recently taking on a new career path

During this time in Costa Rica, Van Niekerk became known as ‘Jungle Joe’, but he has now headed on a different path since becoming a father after welcoming the birth of his baby boy with partner Cato, who is from Belgium.

The 44-year-old is now serving primarily as a ‘trauma healing coach’. His multi-faceted role is described as follows on his website: “my work is rooted in inner child healing, somatics, body work, coaching and holistic health”.

“I’m passionate about empowering you with the right tools to regulate your nervous system, break unhealthy patterns that aren’t serving you and healing childhood related wounding — so you can be free, happy and at peace in the present moment,” he adds.

“I’m here to uplift others and be part of a world that inspires healing, growth, expanding consciousness and inner transformation.”

Giving back to the game

In another interview with Habari Media, the former Springbok loose forward also highlighted how one of his ‘true loves’ still related to sport.

“My real passion lies within sport, so I see this as potentially a new role within rugby. Rugby players have to perform at a high level, week after week, and my dream is to be a coach and health mentor to these players.

“I would look at the human being, not the rugby player, and how his performance would improve if he was in a good space in his personal life. I would connect with each player individually and give them a safe space or haven where they can put whatever they want on the table. They would come into that space as a human being, and not have their rugby persona or identity be the main thing, or be told to be tough and strong.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS CAREER PATH?

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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/springboks/what-is-ex-springbok-joe-van-niekerk-doing-now/