South Africa’s Rugby World Cup winner has died in a car crash, aged 58, after being “hit by a taxi” in his home country.

• Former South African rugby star Hannes Strydom has died at the age of 58
• Strydom was involved in a car accident with a taxi that reportedly collided with his car

Former South African rugby star Hannes Strydom has died at the age of 58 after being involved in a car accident.

Strydom – who was part of the 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks team – was said to have been involved in a collision with a taxi in his home province of Mpumalanga – north-east of Johannesburg – on Sunday evening.

He earned 21 caps for the Springboks between 1993 and 1997 and played his entire career in his native South Africa.

The Springboks paid tribute to Strydom on social media with president Mark Alexander praising him for being a “hero” of South African rugby.

“Hans was one of the great locks of his generation and as a member of the Springbok team since 1995, one of the heroes of our domestic game,” he said.

“He also played over 100 games for the Lions at a time when they dominated the game in South Africa and won the Super 10 title before it became Super Rugby, which underscored the quality of this team.”

“Hans, along with other Lions players such as François Pienaar, Bali Swart, Cobus Wiese and Hennie Le Roux, formed the core of the famous Bok team that lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in South Africa in 1995.

“He was a hard-working lock and was never shy about getting involved and doing the dirty work.

He added: “Losing another member of the iconic Bucs team from 1995 is a huge blow to the rugby fraternity here in South Africa, and our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Nicoli, their children Annalie, Hans and Lucy and his family and friends in South Africa.” This is a very difficult time.

His former club Lions also paid tribute to him, with CEO and former teammate Rudolf Straioli noting their “close bonds” between them.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of Hannes’ passing,” said Rudolf Straeuli, CEO of Lions Rugby Company and a former teammate. “We share a close bond as members of the 1995 group, and losing another one of our brothers is a huge blow.

“Our sincere condolences to his family, friends and the rugby fraternity in general.”

Strydom was placed in intensive care in 2014 after being attacked by six people trying to steal a car.

He resisted the attackers, but suffered head injuries and fractures to the skull and jaw after they threw bricks through his window.

Strydom is the fifth player from the South African team that won the 1995 World Cup to die, after Robin Krueger, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chester Williams and James Small.

The team’s coach – Ketch Christie – died a year after they won the cup.