Cornal Hendricks

Cornal Hendricks (18 April 1988 – 14 May 2025) was a South African rugby union player for the in Super Rugby, the in the Currie Cup and the in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position was wing. He died on 14 May 2025 of a suspected heart attack. He came from a rugby-playing family. His father, brother, and grandfather all played, and his mother was a significant influence. 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.

Hendricks died of a heart attack on 14 May 2025, at the age of 37. He was married to Stephaney, and they had two children. Hendricks was deeply religious, crediting his faith for helping him through his health struggles and emotional challenges.

Career

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

Hendricks made his first team debut for Boland against the in the 2008 Currie Cup Premier Division season. He remained a first team regular for them over the next five seasons.

Cheetahs / Free State Cheetahs Hendricks signed a contract with the to join them for the 2014 season, having previously agreed a deal with them for 2013, but failed to play for them in 2013 due to his South Africa Sevens commitments.

Hendricks was included in the squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season and made his debut – also scoring a try – in a 21–20 defeat to the in Bloemfontein.

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

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

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

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.

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 Total 11 7 0 4 5 0 0 0 25 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 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Mid-year rugby test series Won 38-16 2 Nelspruit, South Africa Mbombela Stadium Mid-year rugby test series Won 31-30 3 Salta, Argentina Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena 2014 Rugby Championship Won 33-31 4 Perth, Australia Patersons Stadium 2014 Rugby Championship Lost 23-24 5 Wellington, New Zealand Westpac Stadium 2014 Rugby Championship Lost 10-14