{"id":42130,"date":"2023-03-31T17:19:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered"},"modified":"2023-03-31T17:56:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:56:08","slug":"nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","title":{"rendered":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons …World Cup dream shattered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingly announced yesterday that he will be retiring from the game due to a serious medical condition.<\/p>\n

The darting Welwitschias\u2019 hooker was possibly going to be one of the key players for Namibia at this year\u2019s Rugby World Cup in France, but that dream is now in shards, as he will now be closing that chapter of his life.<\/p>\n

Nortje, who has to date made 23 appearances for Namibia, including the 2019 World Cup in Japan, said he was left with no choice but to hang up his boots and concentrate on his health and overall wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, I have decided to step away from rugby and contact sports completely due to a diagnosed health condition. I need to take my health, future and quality of life into consideration. This has been one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make, but I need to look after myself and I look forward to new opportunities and challenges. I will look at other platforms which I can engage in despite my condition,\u201d said Nortje, who made his debut against Senegal in 2017 during the Africa Cup.<\/p>\n

He was part of the contracted players whom the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) announced this week, but he has since withdrawn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not easy to say goodbye to teammates who are like my family. It\u2019s very emotional to have to part from them. I thank my teammates, management staff and the union for everything they\u2019ve done for my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

NRU chief executive officer John Heynes wished Nortje well and assured that he has the union\u2019s unwavering support in whatever future endeavour he will embark on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust that you will still succeed in whatever you take on from here. It is a real shame to lose you as you are such a talented player and we have hoped to have you in our team for many more years. You are no isolated case and as with many sportsmen or women, we respect and admire your decision to put your health first,\u201d said Heynes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, national team head coach Allister Coetzee admitted to being saddened to lose Nortje as he was a part of his plans for the World Cup and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is never easy to see any player have to retire at such a young age, especially for such reasons. I was very shocked to receive the news about his condition. I believe this is a very hard decision he had to make, because I know how much effort he puts in. I have seen him grow and he is so passionate about the game. He has been a real asset and I am forever thankful for his contribution to the team and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingly announced yesterday that he will be retiring from the game due to a serious medical condition. The darting Welwitschias\u2019 hooker was possibly going to be one of the key players for Namibia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-42130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nNortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"482\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nortje retires due to medical reasons …World Cup dream shattered\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\",\"name\":\"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered - Namibia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":482,\"caption\":\"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nortje retires due to medical reasons …World Cup dream shattered\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\",\"name\":\"Namibia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered - Namibia","description":"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered","og_description":"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","og_site_name":"Namibia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":482,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons …World Cup dream shattered","datePublished":"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered"},"wordCount":502,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg","keywords":["africa press","Africa Press-Namibia","namibia"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered","name":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered - Namibia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-31T17:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-31T17:56:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Aged just 25 and a blossoming career still well in store, one of Namibia\u2019s most versatile hookers Obert Nortje shockingl ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1680266972.27-64271e7d64821.jpg","width":720,"height":482,"caption":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons ...World Cup dream shattered"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/nortje-retires-due-to-medical-reasons-world-cup-dream-shattered#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nortje retires due to medical reasons …World Cup dream shattered"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/","name":"Namibia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}