André Venter
André Gerhardus Venter (born 14 November 1970 in Vereeniging, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union footballer who earned 66 caps playing for the South Africa national team during the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s.[1] He represented South Africa during the 1999 Rugby World Cup where they finished third.
Birth name | André Gerhardus Venter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 14 November 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Vereeniging, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 109 kg (17 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bill McLaren once said that "He's no oil painting, but look at him working the blind side like a pop-up toaster![2]
A few years after his retirement he was diagnosed with a degenerative syndrome of the central nervous system, later revealed to be transverse myelitis, which causes damage to the spine, and forced him into a wheelchair. Later, his former Springbok teammate, Joost van der Westhuizen developed a degenerative nervous disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.[3]
References
- "André Venter - South Africa". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- "He's like a demented ferret up a wee drainpipe". The Sun. 26 September 2012.
- "Van der Westhuizen diagnosed with motor neurone". RTÉ-ie. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2012.