[imagesource: @junglejoe333]

Big Joe, as he was affectionately known during his days as a Springbok, has chosen a rather different life path since retiring from professional rugby.

A viral video that did the rounds last September pointed out that he now lives in Costa Rica, on a former organic farm that is now a “healing sanctuary” called Rama Organica.

His words.

Van Niekerk really does look at peace with the world, and posted this video to his Instagram account this past Friday:

 

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Goddess guidence for us in turbulent times! ♥️🙏

A post shared by Joe Van Niekerk (@junglejoe333) on Apr 10, 2020 at 6:59am PDT

He may need to work on his shuffling technique.

Let’s start with Joe’s take on recreational drug use in rugby, which he opened up about during an interview two years ago with French rugby bi-weekly Midi Olympique.

That article is in French, so this comes via RugbyPass, and is Joe’s response when asked if doping was widespread in the game during his career:

“I don’t believe in an organised doping system in rugby but there have always been recreational drugs and frankly, I believe that the rugby authorities should be more lenient with regard to these behaviours.

“Suspending a player for six months or a year because he or she took cocaine in the evening seems like an exaggeration. Rather than whipping and destroying, we should accompany the players, reach out to them, help them.

“We s*** so much s*** after the games: sleeping pills, tramadol (a muscle relaxant)… do you really think it’s good for the body? And yet it is completely legal and widespread. But what bothers me most is seeing alcohol at the centre of everything in rugby.

“We drank litres and litres of beer, me first. However, there is nothing worse after a rugby match: it freezes the blood, it tires, it dehydrates and it slows healing. But alcohol is a part of everyday life in our sport and its lobbies even finance the biggest competitions.”

When asked about what alternative forms of treatment he would suggest, van Niekerk said that “in these mountains, there are a million plants, including cannabis, that can help athletes recover from their efforts”.

However, he added that “pharmaceutical lobbies” had the world in their grip, and that is unlikely to happen any time soon.

After that interview made waves, van Niekerk took to Instagram to offer more on his side of the story, and stress that the interview was old and taken out of context:

 

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Generale mental health of players after playing and coming to the end of their careers!

A post shared by Joe Van Niekerk (@junglejoe333) on Apr 12, 2020 at 8:15am PDT

You can see the discussion Joe mentions above here.

Moving on to Kamp Staaldraad, again from the same interview, and again covered by RugbyPass.

Van Niekerk was asked if he had ever been afraid during his rugby career:

“The federation (SA Rugby) had seen fit to group us in a military camp located near the border of Botswana. I can see some virtues in this kind of commando internship. It’s a management method like any other, after all. But here it went too far. They wanted to break us, humiliate us, scare us. I even lost four pounds in three days.

“Kamp Staaldraad, it was crazy when I think about it. We called the soldiers ‘sir’, they answered us using our service number. We had to climb nude through tunnels dug by foxes as they poured frozen water over our heads.

“As long as we were climbing, we were waiting for recordings of God Save The Queen and the Haka. It was crazy, I tell you. We also spent one night in the desert. We were all starved, so the soldiers carried boxes inside of which there were live chickens.

“I grew up in Johannesburg. I’m a little town guy. I had never killed chicken. Especially since the soldiers refused to give us a knife. So we had to kill the beasts with our own hands. I even believe that a player tore out a vein from the animal with his teeth. What a nightmare. 

The former Springbok also told a story about Derick Hougaard asking one of the soldiers who ran the camp for sunscreen, and the ensuing push-ups the squad was forced to do as a result.

Simpler times, hey Derick?

Does this look like the kind of guy who wants to kill animals with his own hands whilst being berated by soldiers?

 

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Anyone up for a dance challenge? Feel free to share your dance moves with me?! Shake out the stagnant energy dance, free yourself, liberate, be moved! #preciouslife #danceoff #takethechallenge #dance #expressyourself #justgettingstarted

A post shared by Joe Van Niekerk (@junglejoe333) on Apr 3, 2020 at 8:35am PDT

Nah, don’t think so.

Finally, in a wide-ranging interview with SA Rugby Mag (thanks for the compilation videos during these trying times), Big Joe touched on his life now:

‘When I finished playing, I felt a calling deep within my soul to be part of pioneer a vision that helped people step into an organic way of life,’ he explains. ‘Part of that is becoming more conscious of the way how we live impacts the planet. So, I live on a former organic farm turned healing sanctuary called Rama Organica in the jungles of Costa Rica. I’m a co-owner and we’ve had the farm for three years. It has been a challenging and humbling journey, but we’ve stuck to the vision.’

While this may be viewed a dramatic departure from the life of a rugby player, Van Niekerk says there are various values from team sport that he has been able to use in his new vocation.

‘You need teamwork and strong leadership for Rama to function effectively as well. We’re all working towards a common goal, which it shares with a team sport as well. People come to our retreats for various reasons. Some seek healing and closure, things they can’t transcend or balance. Others come for an adventure packages, which we cater for. So we tailor our programmes to your needs.’

You can read more from that interview here.

It’s good to see him looking so happy with life.

After all, does SuperSport really need another former rugby player in the studio, or on the touchline?

[sources:rugbypass&rugbypass&sarugbymag]