JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South Africa international and 1995 World Cup winner Chester Williams died on Friday, television news channel eNCA reported.
Local media outlets reported that Williams, 49, died of a suspected heart attack.
Williams played 27 times for the Springboks, making his debut as a winger in 1993.
He scored a total of 14 tries for the senior team, four of them on home soil against Samoa at the 1995 tournament, which followed the country's return to international competition after decades of sanctions and anti-apartheid boycotts.
Williams was one the first black players to represent the national team that was dominated by white players, making him the face of the push for multi-racial reconciliation that followed Nelson Mandela's election in 1994 as the first democratic president.
At the time of his death, Williams was a coach at the University of Western Cape according to the local SA Rugby Mag website https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/bok-legend-williams-passes-away.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Davis)