Izak Petrus van der Westhuizen (born 23 January 1986 in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

) is a former South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player whose regular position was lock. He is on the coaching staff and the head coach of the in the Rugby Challenge.

Career

Youth

Van Der Westhuizen represented

-based side at the Under-18 Craven Week in 2004 and also represented them in the Under-20 competition later in the same year. Van Der Westhuizen then moved to Bloemfontein, where he joined the . He represented them at Under-19 level in 2005 and at Under-21 level in 2006 and 2007.

Free State Cheetahs and Cheetahs

Van der Westhuizen made his first class debut during the

2007 Vodacom Cup The 2007 Vodacom Cup was the 10th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby unio ...

, starting in Free State's opening match of the season against the in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. Three substitute appearances followed in their next three matches before he made another start against the , scoring his first (and only) try in his senior career. Van Der Westhuizen became a regular in the Free State's Vodacom Cup side, making a total of 30 appearances in this competition between

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. Van Der Westhuizen made one appearance for the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

side in 2008 – a pre-season compulsory friendly against the – but it wasn't until the 2009 season that he made his

debut for the , coming on as a substitute against the . In 2010, he was also included in the squad for the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, fea ...

. His

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut came in their Round 9 match against the in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. He made a total of 79 appearances for the in the domestic Vodacom Cup and

competitions and 25 appearances for the in

Griffons

Van der Westhuizen also spent some time on loan at Welkom-based side the , making twelve appearances for them during the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

seasons.

Edinburgh

At the conclusion of the

2012 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 74th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 11 August to 27 October 2012. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

season, he joined

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Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side

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on a two-year contract. Despite an injury-plagued first season, where he made just 6 appearances, Van der Westhuizen recovered to become a regular for Edinburgh during the 2013–14 Pro 12 and

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17–19 ...

competitions, making a total of 29 appearances.

Eastern Province Kings

On 10 March 2014, Edinburgh announced that Van der Westhuizen would join the prior to the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

season on a three-year deal, subject to a medical. However, since Van der Westhuizen suffered three concussions since the start of 2014, a specialist advised that he should not play any rugby for six month to a year. He did not pass the medical at the Eastern Province Kings and the contract was subsequently cancelled.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Westhuizen, Izak 1986 births Living people Cheetahs (rugby union) players Edinburgh Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Free State Cheetahs players Griffons (rugby union) players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Scotland South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players University of the Free State alumni