Former South Africa Rugby star Hannes Strydom has died at the age of 58.
Hannes Strydom died in a car accident in Mpumalanga on 19 November 2023.
Who was Hannes Strydom?
Hannes Strydom was a South African rugby union player who played for the South Africa national rugby union team between 1993 and 1997.
He was born Johannes Jacobus Strydom on 13 July 1965 in Welkom, Free State, South Africa.
He went to school at Pearson High School in Port Elizabeth and the A rugby field is named after him.
Strydom represented the Eastern Province Schools team at the 1983 and 1984 Craven Week tournaments.
In 1986 he made his senior provincial debut for Eastern Province.
He also represented Northern Transvaal and from 1993, Transvaal that later became the Golden Lions, where he formed a formidable combination with Kobus Wiese.
In Super Rugby he represented the Gauteng Lions and with the establishment of the South African franchise system in 1998, the Cats.
He played his first test match for the Springboks on 3 July 1993 against France at Ellis Park.
He toured with the Springboks to Australia and Argentina in 1993, playing in all the test matches during the tours.
In 1994 he played only one test match and in 1995 was a member of the World Cup squad and also played in the World Cup final.
He continued to represent South Africa during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, including the test series against the 1997 British Lions. Strydom also played in nine tour matches.
Hannes Strydom cause of death
Hannes Strydom died in a car accident in Mpumalanga on 19 November 2023.
Former teammate and close friend Kobus Wiese told local media that details of the accident were still vague, but the vehicle Strydom was travelling in collided with a minibus taxi.
The accident took place on Sunday near the coal mining town of eMalahleni in Mpumalanga province.
South African Rugby Union President Mark Alexander hailed Strydom as “one of the heroes of our local game” in the Springboks’ tribute to him.
His former club, the Lions, also paid tribute to him, describing him as a legend who had formed a formidable lock combination with Wiese.
“We share a tight bond as members of the 1995 group and to lose yet another one of our brothers is a big blow,” said Lions Rugby Company chief executive officer Rudolf Straeuli.
Source: www.www.atinkanews.net
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