Lions lock Hyron Andrews dies at team hotel in France before Champions Cup debut

Centre · 2Lions lock Hyron Andrews, 31, died on Friday 16 October at the team's hotel in France, the day before the South African club were due to make their European Champions Cup debut away at La Rochelle. 1 2 Centre · 1French media reports said the player was found unconscious in a shower cubicle at a hotel on the Ile de Re, where the team had been staying since Tuesday. 3 Centre · 2Emergency services were called shortly after 10am and found the player in cardiorespiratory arrest; attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, the reports said. 3 4

Mixed · 3The player was not named at first: SA Rugby officials told Reuters (in CNA's copy) and AFP (in France 24's) that the team was contacting his family in South Africa, and Gulf News said the circumstances of the death were still unknown. The Lions later confirmed the player was Andrews, who joined the Johannesburg club this season after two years at Sale Sharks. 5 6 2 Centre · 1The Lions Rugby Company issued a first statement, quoted by Gulf News from South African outlet IOL, saying it had "received distressing news from France". It said a more detailed statement was being prepared and asked for sensitivity and discretion. 4 Centre · 3The Lions said Andrews' loss would be felt "profoundly" and offered condolences to his wife, Maiglin, and their young sons. The Lions' statement gave no details of the circumstances, but BBC News reported that an SA Rugby statement called the death an "accident" and said he "died after a fall"; the Evening Standard also referred to a fall. 1 2 7

Right · 1The Daily Mail, by contrast, headlined a "suspected heart attack" and named the hotel as the Atalante-Relais Thalasso Hotel just outside La Rochelle, saying Andrews was pronounced dead at the scene; it did not mention a fall, and the cause has not been formally confirmed in the coverage read. 8 Centre · 3Saturday's match had been in doubt, as were two United Rugby Championship fixtures the Lions are due to play in Scotland over the next fortnight, and European Professional Club Rugby said no decision had been made on the La Rochelle fixture and that it would consult the Lions. The Lions then said the match will go ahead in Andrews' honour, and BBC News reported that a minute's silence will be observed at all the opening round's fixtures. 5 1 2 Right · 1Lions chief executive Rudolf Straeuli said the club was "heartbroken" and named Andrews' sons as Hendrix and Emerson; French media reported a psychological support unit had been set up for the Lions' players, staff and hotel personnel. EPCR chairman Dominic McKay and SA Rugby president Mark Alexander also offered condolences, and EPCR said a moment's silence will be held before every Champions Cup and Challenge Cup match this weekend. 8

Centre · 1CNA and France 24 note that the death came ten years to the day after Munster coach Anthony Foley died, aged 42, in his Paris hotel before a Heineken Cup match against Racing 92. La Rochelle's coach, Ronan O'Gara, is reported by Irish media to have visited the Lions at their hotel to offer condolences. 3 Centre · 2Andrews made 45 appearances for Sale and represented the Junior Springboks in 2015, but was not a capped senior international. Sale's director of rugby Alex Sanderson called him "funny and charismatic", and Sale will pay tribute before their match against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday. BBC News noted that Foley died in his sleep after a heart condition caused fluid to build up in his lungs. 2 7 Right · 1Arab News carried the early Reuters copy, which still described the identity as unannounced and the match as "in doubt"; later reporting superseded both points. 9