Johannesburg (AFP)
Former Springbok winger James Small, a member of the squad that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup under Nelson Mandela, died suddenly of a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 50.
"We have very bad news, former Springbok winger James Small is dead," the South African XV announced on his Twitter account.
"As a member of the team that triumphed in 1995, James will always have a special place in the heart of the South African public, we are devastated by his death," said the President of the Federation, Mark Alexander.
"At the age of 50, James Small died too young, and all our condolences to his family and friends," he added.
The player made his green and gold debut in 1992 against New Zealand. He scored 47 selections and scored 20 tries until 1997.
The winger is the third player of the Springboks victorious from 1995 to die young, after the third row Ruben Kruger in 2010 (brain cancer) and the scrum half Joost van der Westhuizen in 2017 (Charcot disease).
The world title won by South Africans in 1995 remains tainted with suspicions of doping because several South African players of the first half of the 1990s are suffering, like Van der Westhuizen, rare neurological diseases.
No scientific evidence to date has established a link between these conditions and possible doping.
? 2019 AFP