Lions and Sale pay tribute after Hyron Andrews dies aged 31

South African lock Hyron Diego Andrews has died aged 31 while on tour with the Lions in France.

He died at the Lions' team hotel in La Rochelle on Friday 16 October, a day before the club opened its European season. SA Rugby said he died after a fall at the hotel, with paramedics called but unable to save him, as reported by ESPN.

Andrews was a second-row forward, the tall, powerful players who drive the scrum and jump in the lineout. He played for the Lions in South Africa, had previously represented the KZN Sharks, and spent just over two years with Sale Sharks in England before leaving at the end of last season to return home. His full name was confirmed as Hyron Diego Andrews by The Guardian.

The Lions faced La Rochelle in France on Saturday 17 October in a pool-stage game in the Investec Champions Cup, Europe's top club competition. The club said it would fulfil the fixture in Andrews' honour, according to the BBC.

La Rochelle won the match 31-14. The result was secondary to the remembrance around it.

A minute's silence was held before kick-off. Both teams wore black armbands. Andrews' number five jersey, his lock number, was laid out on the turf in front of the Lions team before the game.

Afterwards, La Rochelle players Dillyn Leyds and Salmaan Moerat presented a commemorative jersey to the Lions squad.

Sale also paid tribute on Saturday at its own Champions Cup tie against Glasgow Warriors in England. The club, where Andrews played for more than two seasons, joined the weekend's remembrance before losing 47-27 to the Scottish side.

Tributes were held before all of the weekend's Champions Cup and Challenge Cup fixtures. The Lions Rugby Company said it was deeply saddened by the passing of its player, while Sale published its own tribute under the heading "Sharks mourn the passing of Hyron Andrews".

He was 31. Two clubs, in two countries, remembered him on the pitch a day apart from his death.