A FIFTH MEMBER of the legendary South Africa 1995 Rugby World Cup winning team, Hannes Strydom, has passed away following a car accident near Pretoria.
As reported by the Lions club, with whom Strydom played over 100 times for between 1993 and 2003, “It is with great sadness to have heard of the passing of our very own Lions and Springbok legend Hannes Strydom. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time. May his soul rest in peace,” their post on X, formerly Twitter, read.
It is with great sadness to have heard of the passing of our very own Lions and Springbok legend Hannes Strydom. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time. May his soul rest in peace.#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/wt21wMe1wQ
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) November 20, 2023
At 58, Strydom joins others from that team to have passed away at a relatively young age, after Ruben Kruger (2010), Joost van der Westhuizen (2017), Chester Williams (2019) and James Small (2019). Head coach in 1995, Kitch Christie, also died in 1998.
After making his debut in 1993, Strydome went on to make 21 appearances for the Springboks and was one half of a strong second-row pairing with Kobus Wiese. Together they won the World Cup in 1995, beating New Zealand in the final.
