Some former rugby players fade into obscurity, some drive us mad with their commentary, and some walk off the set during a live broadcast and cause months of angry bickering across social media.

Then there is Joe van Niekerk, who seemed to vanish into thin air once he announced his retirement from the game.

He wrapped up his playing days in France with Toulon, and sightings of the 38-year-old have become increasingly infrequent.

The last time we featured Big Joe on here was in August 2016, when he was spotted in a Swellendam-based health shop, but now his whereabouts have been revealed by an Instagram account.

Sport24 reports:

Over the weekend Toulon’s non-official fan club posted a picture of another former Toulon player Pierrick Gunther who caught up with Van Niekerk, who now manages his psychological fitness centre for burn victims in Costa Rica.

That’s Joe managing his own centre, not Pierrick’s.

Costa Rica, hey? We had an inkling, given that we have received some email tip-offs over the past six or so months, but now it’s on Instagram and that makes it official.

Here’s the post in question:

Let’s get in a little closer:

That man bun is a crime, but Joe sure looks like he’s stoked to be off the grid.

Maybe he can convince some former Boks to go visit him, and we can be spared the ‘analysis’.

[source:sport24]