Former South Africa international Cornal Hendricks has died aged 37 after suffering a heart attack.
Hendricks, who scored five tries in 12 appearances for the Springboks, died on Wednesday.
The winger made his Test debut for the Springboks against Wales in 2014, having also played sevens for his country.
Hendricks was forced to retire from professional rugby 10 years ago after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
However, after receiving a second medical opinion, he returned to action with Pretoria-based Super Rugby side Bulls in 2019.
He represented South Africa in rugby sevens between 2011 and 2014, earning selection for the Blitzboks for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens and winning a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
In total, he played 233 first-class matches in a career spanning 17 years.
Bulls rugby director Jack White said: “Many people were shocked and sad when his career was cut short in 2015.
“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 team-mates and the South African community through his story of hope and courage. Rugby has lost one of the good ones.”
South African rugby president Mark Alexander added: “Cornal was one of those players who loved the game and he worked extremely hard, but he always did so with a smile on his face, treating all people with respect.
Date: 15-18 May Venue: Quail Hollow, North Carolina
Rory McIlroy says he was not going to be Bryson DeChambeau’s “best mate” at the Masters after refusing to speak to him during the final round.
McIlroy played alongside DeChambeau for the closing round at Augusta, pitting the rivals against each other again after the American’s dramatic US Open win in 2024.
After carding a disappointing final-round 75 to finish tied fifth as McIlroy claimed the Green Jacket to complete a career Grand Slam, DeChambeau said the Northern Irishman “didn’t talk to me once all day”.
“I don’t know what he was expecting,” said McIlroy, who tees off at the US PGA Championship today (13:22 BST).
“Like, we’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to be his best mate out there.
“Everyone approaches the game in different ways. I was focused on myself and what I needed to do and that’s really all that it was.
“It wasn’t anything against him, that’s just what I felt I needed to do to try and get the best out of myself on that day.”
McIlroy returns to major action in the US PGA at Quail Hollow, where he has won four PGA Tour events.
He said he wants to “create a few more highlights” but admits he may never beat the feeling he had when he won the Masters.
The 36-year-old hopes to become the first player to win back-to-back majors since Jordan Spieth claimed the Masters and US Open in 2015.
While McIlroy described the outpouring of congratulatory messages following his Masters win as “absolutely amazing”, he suggested he is far from finished.
“Everyone needs to have goals and dreams and I’ve been able to do something that I dreamed of for a long time,” said the world number two.
“I’m still going to set myself goals, I’m still going to try to achieve certain things but I sit here knowing that very well could be the highlight of my career.
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When asked if he still has a ‘North Star’ achievement following his emotional Masters win, McIlroy added: “Not necessarily. I think everyone saw how hard having a North Star is and being able to get over the line.
“If I can try to get the best out of myself every week, I know what my abilities are, I know the golf that I can play and if I keep doing that every week, especially in these four big ones each year, I know I’ll have my chances.”
Having won all four majors, McIlroy’s next significant achievement could be to match Sir Nick Faldo’s European record of six major titles.
“I’ve always said I’m not going to put a number on it,” added McIlroy, who will play alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele during the first two rounds of the US PGA.
“I’ve talked about becoming the best European ever or the best international player, whatever that is, but the numbers tell one thing and it might not be the full story.
“I feel like I burdened myself with the career Grand Slam stuff and I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved and enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career.
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Donald Trump says he thinks the US is close to doing a nuclear deal with Iran. The US president made the comments in Qatar, where he praised the Emir for helping to push for a diplomatic solution, rather than war.
A New Zealand government committee has recommended that three Indigenous legislators be temporarily suspended from parliament for performing a protest haka last year.
The Privileges Committee recommended on Wednesday evening that Te Pati Maori party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi be suspended for 21 days.
It was also recommended that representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, 22, New Zealand’s youngest legislator, be suspended for seven days for acting “in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House”.
But, according to the committee report, Maipi-Clarke was given a shorter sanction because she had written a letter of “contrition” to the parliament.
While both haka and Maori ceremonial dance and song are not uncommon in parliament, members were aware that permission was needed from the speaker beforehand, the report said.
In November, Maipi-Clarke derailed parliament when she ripped a copy of a contentious race relations bill with a protest haka. Party co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer joined her and strode to the chamber floor.
The Maori party were protesting against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, which sought to redefine New Zealand’s founding document, the 1840 pact between the British Crown and Indigenous Maori leaders signed during New Zealand’s colonisation.
Critics of the bill saw it as an attempt to reverse the special rights given to the country’s Maori population.
Last month, the bill was resoundingly voted down.
But the Maori party has called the recommendation the harshest penalty handed out in the country’s parliament, with three days being the longest that a legislator has been banned from the House.
“When tangata whenua [Indigenous people] resist, colonial powers reach for the maximum penalty,” the party said, adding, “This is a warning shot to all of us to fall in line.”
However, Judith Collins, a ruling legislator who heads the Privileges Committee and serves as attorney general, said it was highly disorderly for members to interrupt a vote while it was being conducted.
“The right to cast one’s vote without impediment goes to the heart of being a member of parliament. It is not acceptable to physically approach another member on the floor of the debating chamber,” Collins told a news conference on Wednesday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington next week at a time of strained ties between the two countries, Pretoria said in a statement released late on Wednesday.
Tensions have been rising for months over a range of policy issues, culminating this week in the United States resettling a first group of white Afrikaners that Trump claims are facing “persecution” in South Africa.
“On Wednesday, 21 May 2025, President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” Ramaphosa’s office said.
The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries”, it said.
The US administration has torn into various South African policies, including its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and a land expropriation law meant to redress historical inequalities that Washington alleges will allow the government to seize white-owned land.
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US President Donald Trump attends a meeting of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office but is making an exception for the Afrikaners — mainly descendants of Dutch settlers to South Africa — despite Pretoria’s insistence that they do not face persecution in their homeland.
White South Africans, who make up 7.3 percent of the population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the black majority of the country.
Washington cut aid to South Africa and in March expulsed Pretoria’s ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, after he criticised Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement in an online seminar.
Pretoria has said Trump’s claims are “entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy”.
Following the arrival of a first group of 49 Afrikaners in the US on Monday, South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile said Trump had been “lied to”.
“There’s no genocide here. We are beautiful, happy people, black and white working and living together,” he told journalists, adding that Ramaphosa would “invite President Trump” to visit “our beautiful country”.
Trade discussions should also be expected from Ramaphosa’s “working visit” to the US, which will last from Monday to Thursday.
The US is South Africa’s second-biggest trade partner but Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs in April — now paused for 90 days — has ignited fears for key sectors, including the automobile industry and citrus production.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes a return to the Champions League is even more important than winning his first trophy in charge of the Red Devils when they face Tottenham in the Europa League final.
Victory in Bilbao on May 21 will hand a lifeline to one of the struggling English giants by propelling them directly into the lucrative league phase of next season’s Champions League.
United and Tottenham sit just outside the Premier League relegation zone and the loser will miss out on European competition entirely next season.
A return to Europe’s elite tournament is estimated to be worth at least £70 million ($93 million) to United and would allow Amorim more resources to rebuild his squad.
“For me the Champions League is more important,” Amorim said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“For everything, to prepare the next season.
“We are supposed to be in the Champions League. Europa League here is not enough and you have to have that feeling here.
“The best way to help us to get to the top in a few years is the Champions League. It is not the title, the trophy.
“The most important thing is how this title could help us to get back to the top faster.”
A dramatic run to the final has salvaged a torrid start to Amorim’s time at Old Trafford.
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Manchester United’s Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim applauds fans on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on February 16, 2025. Tottenham won the game 1-0. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
Since taking charge in November, he has won just six of 25 Premier League games.
The Portuguese coach has at times been brutal in the assessment of his team, including labelling them the worst in the club’s history.
However, he rejected suggestions he could resign if United compound a miserable season with defeat in Spain.
“I cannot see the team having these results, especially in the Premier League, and see nothing and not take the responsibility,” added Amorim.
“It’s just that I have a clear idea of what to do. I understand the problems of the team, so I’m far from quitting.
“What I’m saying is that we need to perform. In the future we need to perform or else they will change us.”
Amorim confirmed reports that he will help fund travel for the families of his backroom staff to the final.
United have made swingeing cuts off the field in the year since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe bought a minority stake in the club, including 250 redundancies with up to 200 more to come.
Amorim said that negativity has played a part in United’s struggles this season but the Europa League offers the chance for a much-needed boost.
“This season has been really tough on everybody. The results and also the changes in the staff. You can feel it in our club.
“We had so many bad results in the Premier League, so the environment is tough at the moment. But I guarantee you that when we are preparing a game in the Europa League, the environment is a little bit different and you can feel the excitement.”
