{"id":526104,"date":"2026-04-12T01:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T01:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526104\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T01:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T01:22:12","slug":"15-year-old-schoolboy-rugby-player-dies-after-collapsing-during-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526104\/","title":{"rendered":"15-year-old schoolboy rugby player dies after collapsing during match"},"content":{"rendered":"

The young scrum-half was pronounced dead at hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties during the match in South Africa<\/p>\n

15-year-old Nhlakanipho Buthelezi died after collapsing during a match in South Africa(Image: Free State Education Department)<\/p>\n

A 15-year-old schoolboy rugby player has died in South Africa after collapsing during a match.<\/p>\n

Nhlakanipho Buthelezi collapsed while playing an under-15s match between HTS and Sasolburg High School<\/a> on Friday. According to reports in South Africa, Buthelezi was a Grade 9 learner at HTS Sasolburg.<\/p>\n

According to the Free State Department of Education, Buthelezi experienced breathing difficulties during Friday’s match at DP de Villiers Stadium.<\/p>\n

The scrum-half was attended to by medical personnel at the stadium, before he was rushed to Sasolburg Hospital.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead on arrival.<\/p>\n

The Free State Department of Education said it was shocked by the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply shocked by the tragic loss of Nhlakanipho Buthelezi, a young life cut short,\u201d said Free State education MEC Dr Mantlhake Maboya.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts go out to his family, friends, and the HTS Sasolburg community. We extend our condolences and support during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will support the school and family in any way possible and appreciate the swift response of medical personnel.<\/p>\n

“Nhlakanipho’s passing reminds us of the fragility of life. We stand with his loved ones and the school community in mourning this loss.”<\/p>\n

HTS Sasolburg confirmed Buthelezi’s death in a post on the school\u2019s Facebook<\/a> page, extending condolences to his parents, family, friends and the wider school community.<\/p>\n

Buthelezi\u2019s rugby coach, Thorne Swart, also paid tribute to the young player while sharing a highlights reel of him in action.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were not the biggest, but we lost a giant of our game. We lost a brother,\u201d wrote Swart.<\/p>\n

He described Buthelezi as a determined learner who pushed himself in both academics and sport.<\/p>\n

He added that the team would honour his memory during the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

Friday’s match was part of the long-running schoolboy rugby FNB Classic between HTS Sasolburg and Sasolburg High School – a fixture that has been taking place for 47 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The young scrum-half was pronounced dead at hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties during the match in South Africa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,30347,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-526104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-south-africa-rugby-team","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}