Lions star lock Hyron Andrews tragically passed away on Friday 16 October while on tour with the team in France.

HYRON ANDREWS DIES

The Lions confirmed the death of Hyron Andrews in a statement sharing their condolences with his wife and children.

“Our deepest and most heartfelt condolences go to Hyron’s wife, Maighlin, their young sons, and the entire Andrews family. We hold them in our thoughts during this time of unimaginable grief and ask that their privacy be respected as they mourn,” read the statement said.

The Sun reports that Andrews was found unconscious in a shower cubicle at the team’s hotel on the Ile de Re, an island off France’s western coast. This has been the team’s training base since Tuesday. Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 10am on Friday morning. Paramedics attended to the player, who was in “cardiorespiratory arrest”. Andrews was pronounced dead after medical personnel responded to the scene.

This was just a day before the Lions Champions Cup opener against La Rochelle on Saturday 17 October. Initial reports claimed that Andrews died of a suspected heart attack. However, a statement from SA Rugby suggests that the rugby star passed away “following an accident while on duty with his team in France”.

“SA Rugby on Friday sent its condolences to the family of Lions lock forward Hyron Andrews who passed away tragically, following an accident while on duty with his team in France,” read the statement from SA Rugby.

So, who was the star lock?

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HYRON ANDREWS

  • Andrews was born in Paarl, Western Cape on 6 July 1995. He was just 31 years old at the time of his death.
  • He started out with the Bulls. He represented the Bulls at age-group level before joining the Sharks Academy in 2014, and made his first-class debut the following year. He made 77 appearances for the Sharks between 2016 and 2024. By 2018 he was already in the leadership group and had taken the most lineout ball for the team in that year’s Currie Cup.
  • The Lions brought Andrews back home. He was reportedly lured back from Sale by Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen, bringing experience and physicality to a position where the Lions were set to lose Raynard Roets to France.
  • The star lock was married to Maiglin Andrews, an American medical practitioner.
  • He is a father of two. Hyron has two young boys – Hendrix and Emerson with Maiglin.