Rugby: a player from the South African Lions team died in a hotel on the Ile de Ré before the match against La Rochelle

A drama before the match between Stade Rochelais and the South African province of Lions. A player from the Johannesburg-based franchise, aged around thirty, died Friday morning in the hotel where his team was staying on the Île de Ré, on the eve of the match on the first day of the Champions Cup against La Rochelle, according to information from ICI La Rochelle which was confirmed to Le Figaro by the La Rochelle prosecutor.

The rugby player was found unconscious in a shower cubicle in the spa area of ​​the Atalante-Relais Thalasso establishment, in Sainte-Marie-de-Ré (which did not wish to communicate). The emergency services (around ten firefighters, with the SAMU and the police), who intervened this Friday shortly after 10:20 a.m., noted a cardio-respiratory arrest and tried to resuscitate the player, in vain. The identity of the latter has not been made public and the causes of death remain unknown at this time.

An investigation entrusted to the La Rochelle gendarmerie

A psychological support unit has been set up to support the South African players and hotel staff. The possible consequences of this drama on the match scheduled for Saturday (match postponed or canceled) have not yet been specified by the EPCR, organizer of the Champions Cup. An investigation was opened and entrusted to the La Rochelle gendarmerie. An autopsy of the player will be carried out.

Qualified for the first time for the Champions Cup (after having played in the Challenge Cup, the small European Cup), the South African Lions franchise will become the 59th team to participate in the competition created in 1995 and which has joined the South African teams since the 2022-2023 season.