Friends and teammates have paid tribute to Garth van Niekerk, the Abu Dhabi Harlequins player, who died on Friday night.
The South African centre, 28, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in September, just days after playing 80 minutes for his new side Harlequins in the opening match of the season.
After his condition deteriorated, he returned to South Africa just under two weeks ago, having joined his Harlequins teammates for one final time after the win against Dubai Hurricanes on October 20.
Van Niekerk was widely regarded as one of the outstanding rugby players in the region, initially as part of the backline of Abu Dhabi Saracens.
He made the switch to city neighbours Harlequins during the summer, and immediately impressed his new colleagues by way of both his skill on the field, as well as his manner off it.
Craig Nutt, another former Saracen who moved to join Harlequins at the same time as Van Niekerk, was one of his closest friends in the game here.
He relayed the news of his death to his teammates on Saturday morning, just hours after Harlequins and Dubai Exiles players had shared an embrace to remember their stricken friend.
Harlequins beat an Exiles side which contained several of Van Niekerk's former Saracens teammates, 29-25 on Friday night.
Many of the players on either side wore pink, cancer-awareness socks, as a nod to their friend. Nutt, coincidentally, scored a rare try.
“Life can be unfair sometimes,” Nutt said. “He was such a nice fellow, and everyone that ever met him would say the same. He was a very humble guy and will sorely missed by a lot of people.”
Mike McFarlane, the Harlequins coach, said it was difficult to comprehend the speed at which Van Niekerk’s condition diminished.
“He phoned me the next day,” McFarlane said of finding out the diagnosis in September.
“Usually I put a message out to the players saying, ‘If you have any knocks, let me know.’ He phoned me and said: ‘Mate, I might be out for a few weeks.’
“I said that he had looked alright the day before, and that I didn’t notice any knocks or niggles. He told me he had cancer, and he even apologised.
“I wasn’t ready for that conversation. From there, it turned to how we could support him. As a club, we tried to do whatever we could for him and his family.”
The coach echoed Nutt’s sentiment that Van Niekerk was a class act, on and off the field.
“He was a standout player, and a great gentleman who was super humble,” McFarlane said.
“Everyone said the same, whoever he met. He was such a dominant player on the field, but really quiet and humble off the field.
“He was not with us for long, but he did the whole pre-season with us, and wouldn’t miss a session. He was class.”
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Van Niekerk’s day job was as a flight paramedic for Abu Dhabi Aviation Search and Rescue.
He had completed a masters degree in emergency medicine, before becoming a flight paramedic age 26.
Wayne Hayman, the chief paramedic for the Search and Rescue team, recalled a gifted colleague who was “one of the best educated paramedics in the country”.
“It is shocking to all of us,” Hayman said. “He was one of the youngest, fittest guys on the team.
“He went from having mild, stomach discomfort, to, a week later, being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It is so sad.
“He was certainly one of the most loved people. If the Facebook messages, from around the world, are anything to go by, he was an absolutely top bloke, one of the most amazing guys you could meet.
“He was really going places, and was a phenomenal guy. For this to happen to him, it is absolutely devastating.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Kibsons%20Cares
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match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
