Rhodesfield Valke player dies before Cravenweek
The young lock had been selected for the Valke U/18 Craven Week team
AN U/18 rugby player of Rhodesfield Technical High School has died on Tuesday evening due to bleeding on the brain.
Jean-Jireh Yamwimbi (17) apparently suffered concussion during a recent game for his school team.
The young lock had been selected for the Valke U/18 Craven Week team, which will take part in the 53th Craven Week for high schools at Kearsney College in Durban from July 11-16. The team leaves for Durban tomorrow.
The talented Yamwimbi represented the Valke in 2015 at the Grant Khomo Week for U/16 teams in Oudtshoorn.
SA Rugby president, Oregan Hoskins, on behalf of SA Rugby, extended their condolences to Yamwimbi’s family and team mates
who were preparing to travel to the U/18 Coca-Cola Craven Week with him.
“This is a very sad day for South African rugby. We are halfway through the SA Rugby Youth Weeks‚ which is a time in which we celebrate the youth who share a deep passion for the game‚ and a week in which they have the opportunity to showcase their talent against the best players from other provinces.
Instead we are mourning the passing of a player who had so much to offer.
As a sign of respect to Yamwimbi‚ the Valke will not replace him in their group and will have a squad of only 22 players at the tournament.
The Valke U/18 Craven Week coach, Oupa van der Merwe of Hoërskool Kemptonpark, told Netwerk24 Yamwimbi was on the bench for his school team for two weeks after his injury. He also sat out for the Valke for three weeks.
Van der Merwe said during the Valke training camp in Rustenburg, Yamwimbi complained about headaches and was not involved in any contact sessions. The camp ended last week Wednesday.
