Cornal Hendricks

Cornal Hendricks (18 April 1988 – 14 May 2025)^[1] was a South African rugby union player for the Bulls in Super Rugby, the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Blue Bulls XV in the Rugby Challenge.^[2] His regular position was wing. He died on 14 May 2025 of a suspected heart attack.^[1]

Cornal Hendricks

Hendricks playing in 2021
Date of birth	(1988-04-18)18 April 1988
Place of birth	Paarl, South Africa
Date of death	14 May 2025(2025-05-14) (aged 37)
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	95 kg (209 lb; 14 st 13 lb)
School	Bergrivier High School, Wellington
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing/Inside centre Current team Bulls / Blue Bulls Youth career 2007–2008 Boland Cavaliers Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2008–2012 Boland Cavaliers 68 (135) 2014–2015 Cheetahs 27 (55) 2014–2015 Free State Cheetahs 1 (0) 2019–2024 Bulls 72 (75) 2019 Blue Bulls XV 1 (5) 2019–2024 Blue Bulls 42 (90) Correct as of 23 July 2022 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2014 South Africa Sevens 2012 South African Barbarians (South) 1 (0) 2014–2015 South Africa 12 (25) 2014 Springbok XV 1 (0) Correct as of 25 July 2015
Medal record Men's rugby sevens Representing  South Africa World Games 2013 Cali Team competition Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Team competition

Personal life and death

Hendricks was born and raised in Paarl, Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa, in a poor area called Hillcrest.^[3] He came from a rugby-playing family. His father, brother, and grandfather all played, and his mother was a significant influence.^[4] He attended Bergrivier Hoërskool, a lesser-known school, and was not selected for prestigious youth tournaments like Craven Week, yet fought his way into Boland's under-21 and senior teams.^[5]

He died of a heart attack on 14 May 2025.^[6] He was married to Stephaney, and they had two children.^[7] Hendricks was deeply religious, crediting his faith for helping him through his health struggles and emotional challenges.^[8]

Career

Boland Cavaliers

Hendricks represented local team Boland Cavaliers through various underage competitions and graduated to the first team.

Hendricks made his first team debut for Boland against the Free State Cheetahs in the 2008 Currie Cup Premier Division season.^[9] He remained a first team regular for them over the next five seasons.

Cheetahs / Free State Cheetahs

Hendricks signed a contract with the Cheetahs to join them for the 2014 season,^[10] having previously agreed a deal with them for 2013,^[11] but failed to play for them in 2013 due to his South Africa Sevens commitments.

Hendricks was included in the Cheetahs squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season^[12] and made his debut – also scoring a try – in a 21–20 defeat to the Lions in Bloemfontein.^[13][14]

Stormers / Western Province

Hendricks returned to the Western Cape for the 2016 season, signing a two-year deal with Western Province and the Stormers.^[15] However, he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and failed to make any appearances for them.^[16]

Toulon

In December 2016, French Top 14 side Toulon announced the signing of Hendricks until the end of the 2016–17 season.^[17] However, a few weeks after announcing this deal, Toulon stated that he would not join the team after all.^[18]

Representative rugby

Hendricks was also a member of the South Africa Sevens team during the 2011–12 and 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series.^[19] In 2013, he was included in the squad for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.^[20]

In May 2014, Hendricks was one of eight uncapped players that were called up to a Springbok training camp prior to the 2014 mid-year rugby union tests.^[21]

Hendricks made his debut on 14 June 2014 for the Springboks against Wales in Durban.

Honours

• Currie Cup Player of the Year (2020–21)
• Pro14 Rainbow Cup runner-up 2021
• Currie Cup winner 2020–21, 2021
• United Rugby Championship runner-up 2021–22

Springbok statistics

Test Match Record

Against	Pld	W	D	L	Tri	Con	Pen	DG	Pts	%Won
Argentina	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	100
Australia	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	50
Ireland	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
New Zealand	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	50
Scotland	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	100
Wales	3	2	0	1	2	0	0	0	10	66.67
Total	11	7	0	4	5	0	0	0	25	63.64

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

International Tries

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	Wales	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park	Mid-year rugby test series	14 June 2014	Won 38-16
2	Wales	Nelspruit, South Africa	Mbombela Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	21 June 2014	Won 31-30
3	Argentina	Salta, Argentina	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena	2014 Rugby Championship	23 August 2014	Won 33-31
4	Australia	Perth, Australia	Patersons Stadium	2014 Rugby Championship	6 September 2014	Lost 23-24
5	New Zealand	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	2014 Rugby Championship	13 September 2014	Lost 10-14