South Africa has been rocked just weeks after its 2023 Rugby World Cup triumph by the death of a fifth member of its revered 1995 championship squad.
Hannes Strydom, 58, was killed in a car crash on Sunday evening.
Local reports say he and another person were in a vehicle that collided with a minibus taxi.
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Strydom, who made headlines in 2014 when he fought off carjackers and drove himself to hospital with a fractured skull, is survived by wife Nikolie and their children Annalie, Hannes and Lucy.
Strydom was a lock who played 21 Tests and 10 other games for South Africa from 1993-97.
“Hannes was one of the great locks of his generation and as a member of the Springbok squad from 1995, one of the heroes of our local game,” South African Rugby Union president Mark Alexander said.
“He also played more than 100 games for the Lions at a time when they dominated the game in South Africa and won the Super 10 before it became Super Rugby, which underlined the quality of that team.
“Hannes, along with other players from that Lions team, such as Francois Pienaar, Balie Swart, Kobus Wiese, and Hennie le Roux, formed the core of the famous Bok squad that lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in South Africa in 1995.
“He was a hard-working lock who never shied away from getting stuck in and doing the dirty work.”
Strydom is the fifth player from the 1995 Springboks squad, which took part in the country’s first Rugby World Cup after a sport ban because of apartheid, to die relatively young.
Ruben Kruger died of brain cancer in 2010 aged 39 and Joost van der Westhuizen died in 2017 aged 45 after years battling motor neurone disease.
James Small and Chester Williams died within two months of each other in 2019, both from heart attacks. Small was 50 and Williams was 49.
“To lose yet another member of the iconic Bok squad from 1995 is a heavy blow to the rugby fraternity here in South Africa,” Alexander said.
Strydom’s Lions and Springboks teammate Rudolf Straeuli, now chief executive of their former team, paid tribute.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Hannes,” former teammate and current Lions chief executive Rudolf Straeuli said.
“We share a tight bond as members of the 1995 group and to lose yet another one of our brothers is a big blow.
“Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends and the rugby fraternity at large.”
Strydom’s death comes after the Springboks became the most successful international team in rugby history, winning their fourth World Cup title at the 2023 tournament in France.
– with AP
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