Cornal Hendricks tribute — ‘Rugby has lost one of the good ones’

Cornal Hendricks of Blue Bulls during the Carling Currie Cup, Premier Division match between DHL Western Province and Vodacom Bulls at DHL Stadium on July 07, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)

By Craig Ray

15 May 2025

Former Springbok wing Cornal Hendricks has died from a suspected heart attack at the age of 37.

If there was a picture next to the word “determination” in the dictionary, it might be of former Springbok wing Cornal Hendricks.

Born in Paarl and raised in a humble home in Wellington in the Boland, he ascended to the pinnacle of the game. It included a great try against the All Blacks, in the other Wellington, in New Zealand, in 2014.

In between he packed in a strong career epitomised by tenacity and determination, and of never being a quitter.

Sadly, Hendricks, who was cut from the game for almost four years because of a “heart condition”, died on Wednesday from a suspected heart attack. No other details were immediately available.

Second career

The first step to Hendricks’ second “career” was a brief resurrection in the unlikeliest of places – Mauritius – two years after a diagnosis revealing a “heart condition” saw the termination of his playing career.

At the time Stormers doctors told Hendricks the bad news, his career was not yet at its peak. He had been capped 12 times by the Springboks with five Test tries, was a Commonwealth Games gold medallist with the SA Sevens team and had been named SA Sevens Player of the Year in 2013.

At 27, his career was solid, with the promise of more glory to come. But a devastating diagnosis, just weeks after he had signed for Western Province and the Stormers, meant the contracts were terminated.

The details of Hendricks’ medical issue were never fully revealed other than that he had a “heart condition”, and he never publicly spoke about it in anything but broad terms.

The Stormers wouldn’t take the risk. No one else would touch him either.

Cornal Hendricks in action against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on 4 March 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images)

Attempts to resurrect his career at the Bulls (in 2016) and Toulon (2017) in France ended in disappointment and more frustration.

The door opened when former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer asked Hendricks to play at the Beachcomber World Tens in Mauritius in mid-2017.

In the greater scheme of professional rugby, the World Tens is a peripheral event in a format that has never gained traction. But it was a way back “in” and a chance for Hendricks to show that his medical issues were behind him.

He turned out for the invitational Africa Pacific Dragons at the tournament at Mauritius’ Anjalay Stadium, aged 29. The Bulls and the Cheetahs had sent teams, as had the Western Force and others.

Hendricks played well, showed his skill and was noticed.

More frustration

It wasn’t immediately enough to earn him a professional contract though, but it did open the door for a trial at the now-defunct Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha).

Initial indications were that he would be contracted and would play again, but at the last minute the Kings backed out.

It was a familiar theme that occurred more than once between 2016 and 2018. Hendricks, though, was not a quitter. He had lost all his material possessions because he had almost no income.

He went back to Wellington and played club rugby in Boland, staying fit, working on his game, waiting and working towards a call that he never stopped believing would come, so he could showcase his undeniable talents on the highest stage again.

“I’m over the worst now after the setback,” Hendricks told this writer before the World Tens tournament in 2017.

“For a long time, I could hardly sleep at night, not because I was hungry and couldn’t pay my bills, but because I knew there was nothing wrong with me and no one would give me a chance. It was so frustrating.

Cornal Hendricks of the Blue Bulls during their Currie Cup match against the Sharks at Kings Park on 14 April 2023 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

“My faith pulled me through. I stay fit and I believe that I will get another chance to play at the highest level again.

“I look at a guy like (Southern Kings wing) Alshaun Bock, and take inspiration. He made his Super Rugby debut at 34, but he never gave up.

“I come from a disadvantaged area and I tell people I work with in my foundation that I not only play for myself, but for them. I want to give hope to underprivileged children and say, ‘It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can make it in the world.’

“I just want to get back in the game because something that worries me is that I don’t want to waste my God-given talent. I have a breakthrough again in Mauritius to show my worth. Time is running out. I’m not getting any younger.

“There have been times I wanted to give up and throw the towel in. But the desire to be on the field is still burning inside me and I can’t let it go.”

Bulls

And thankfully he never did because a few months later, the call finally came — from the Bulls.

The Bulls checked his medicals and decided to take a chance, and in February 2019 he made a return off the bench for the Bulls against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.

Hendricks, as a guest on the Behind the Ruck podcast in 2024, praised the Bulls organisation and singled out director of rugby Jake White as a key reason for his second “career”.

“I must give credit to every person at the Bulls. They went out of their way to give me a second chance, but especially Jake White,” Hendricks said on the podcast hosted by former Boks Rudy Paige and Juan de Jongh.

“Jake came to me and said ‘I’m going to make you a 12 (inside centre)’,” Hendricks recalled with a laugh. “I thought to myself that this old man has got it all wrong and that he doesn’t like me or something.”

It turned out to be an inspired move and Hendricks enjoyed a superb second career at the Bulls, earning 73 caps for the club between the 2019 and 2024.

Hendricks is tackled during a Currie Cup match against Western Province on 7 July 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)

Hendricks was part of the Bulls teams that won the 2020 and 2021 Currie Cup finals and was man of the match in 2021.

“Many people were shocked and sad when his career was cut short in 2015,” White said. “When we had the opportunity to get him back on the park, he took that with open arms and made a remarkable use of his second lease in professional rugby.

“We all witnessed him leave no stone unturned as he inspired his teammates and the South African community through his story of hope and courage.

“It was a privilege and honour to have been his coach. He was a fantastic rolemodel for the next generation and his appetite for life was infectious. Rugby has lost one of the good ones today.”

Hendricks is survived by his wife Stephaney and two young sons. DM

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