By JON GEDDES

As he prepares to play his 200th first grade game for the Warringah Rats this weekend, the club’s legendary scrum half  Josh Holmes has revealed rugby saved his life when he was at death’s door lying in an intensive care bed.

While he is generally regarded as the Shute Shield’s best scrum half over the past decade, Holmes faced the most extraordinary battle at the start of his football journey.

In his first year out of school in February 2005, the rising teenage star had signed with the NSW Waratahs and was living the dream when he contracted encephalitis, the potentially lethal virus that causes an inflammation of the brain.