Tributes have been pouring in following the death of Lions lock Hyron Andrews in the team hotel on the eve of their Champions Cup game against La Rochelle. Andrews passed away in France on Friday morning from suspected cardiac arrest.
The 31-year-old died after falling at the team’s hotel in La Rochelle, where they are scheduled to play a match in the European Champions Cup on Saturday.
The Lions were in the southwestern French city preparing to face La Rochelle in their first ever Champions Cup match. French media reported that Andrew died in a hotel room on the Île de Ré.
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SA Rugby on Friday sent its condolences to the family of Andrews, who was born in Paarl and attended Hoërskool Garsfontein in Pretoria, also represented the Junior Springboks in 2015.
“This is terrible and distressing news; our hearts go out to Hyron’s family and the whole Lions rugby community,” said Mark Alexander, president of the South African Rugby Union.
“There are no words to adequately convey our shock and the depth of sympathy we feel for his wife Maighlin, and for his extended family, friends, teammates and loved ones during this time of immense sorrow.”
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SA Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie described the death of Andrews, a day before a historic match, as cruel.
“Hyron played in a position that asks for nothing but courage; the work nobody sees and the hits nobody counts,” said Minister McKenzie.
“He gave that to the Sharks, to Sale, to the Junior Boks and to the Lions, without complaint. To lose him at 31, far from home, on the day before a match his teammates had worked so hard towards, is a very cruel thing.”
“My heart goes out to his family, who have received news no family should ever have to receive, and to his friends and everyone at the Lions and in the wider rugby community who knew him. To the Lions players who must take the field in La Rochelle tomorrow: you will be carrying a terrible weight, but you will not be carrying it alone. South Africa is behind you.”
The Minister has asked the public and the media to respect the privacy of Andrews’ family, and to refrain from speculation while the French authorities establish the circumstances of his death.