| Birth name | Johannes Jacobus Strydom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1965-07-13)13 July 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Welkom,Orange Free State, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 19 November 2023(2023-11-19) (aged 58) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Mpumalanga, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (254 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Pearson High School,Port Elizabeth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Port Elizabeth University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Johannes Jacobus Strydom (13 July 1965 – 19 November 2023) was a South Africanrugby union player who played as a lock. He earned 21 caps for theSouth Africa national rugby union team between 1993 and 1997.[1]
Strydom represented theSpringboks for a total of 21 tests and 10 non-tests. He was also a member of the1995 world cup winning team that won the finals defeating New Zealand.[2]
Strydom was born on 13 July 1965 inWelkom, in theFree State province of South Africa.[3][4]
Strydom represented theEastern Province Schools team at the 1983 and 1984Craven Week tournaments. In 1986, he made his senior provincial debut for Eastern Province. He also representedNorthern Transvaal and from 1993,Transvaal that later became the Golden Lions, where he formed a formidable combination withKobus Wiese.
InSuper Rugby, he represented theGauteng Lions and with the establishment of the South African franchise system in 1998, theCats.[5]
Strydom played his first test match for theSpringboks on 3 July 1993 againstFrance at Ellis Park. He toured with the Springboks toAustralia andArgentina 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 theWorld Cup squad and also played in the World Cup final.[6] Strydom was a member of the1995 Springboks team that won the world cup that year defeating New Zealand. The famous tournament win was made into the Hollywood film,Invictus, in 2009.[7]
He continued to represent South Africa during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, including the test series against the1997 British Lions. Strydom also played in nine tour matches.[6] In a career spanning 1993 through 1997, he made a total of 21 appearances for the country.[2]
After his retirement, Strydom went on to become a businessman, owning the 'Pharma Valu' chain of pharmacies based in Pretoria.[8]
In 2003, he was inducted into theUniversity of Pretoria Sports Hall of Fame.[9]
He went to school atPearson High School in Port Elizabeth and the A rugby field is named after him.[10] He worked as a pharmacist in Pretoria.[8]
Hannes Strydom died in a traffic collision nearEMalahleni, a town in theMpumalanga province, on 19 November 2023, at the age of 58. He was the fifth player from the 1995 world-cup-winning side to die, afterRuben Kruger,Joost van der Westhuizen,James Small andChester Williams.[11][12][2]
