Mourning in rugby: Hannes Strydom, one of the heroes of South Africa ’95, has died

Hannes Strydom, South Africa national team player which captured the historic success of the 1995 Rugby World Cupalso immortalized by Clint Eastwood’s film ‘Invictus’, he died in a car accident in the town of Malahleni, 140 km from Johannesburg, where his car collided with a minivan. This was announced by the president of the South African federation Mark Alexander. “Hannes was one of the best second lines of his era – Alexander’s words -, a great worker who never held back on the pitch and, above all, he was one of our heroes of 1995”. Strydom was 58 years old and worked as a pharmacist, taking advantage of the degree obtained during his rugby career. In 2014 he suffered a skull fracture and was stabbed during an attempted robbery in Johannesburg. After Ruben Kruger, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chester Williams and James Smal, he is the fifth deceased member of those legendary Springboksawarded on the pitch by Nelson Mandela