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Former Sale second row Hyron Andrews has died at his Johannesburg Lions’ team hotel before their Champions Cup match at La Rochelle on Saturday.

A statement from SA Rugby stated that his death had been an “accident” and that the 31-year-old had “died after a fall”.

“We are heartbroken by the passing of Hyron,” said Lions chief executive Rudolf Straeuli.

“He was not only a gifted rugby player, but also a cherished member of our Lions family having recently joined us this season.

“On behalf of our chairman, Mr Altmann Allers, the board and everyone at the Lions, I extend our deepest sympathies to [Andrews’ wife] Maighlin, their young sons Hendrix and Emerson and the entire Andrews family.

“We stand with them in their sorrow and will remember Hyron with great affection and respect.”

The Lions will fulfil their fixture against La Rochelle, which kicks off at 17:30 BST, in Andrews’ honour, while a moment’s silence will be observed at all the opening round’s fixtures.

“This is terrible and distressing news; our hearts go out to Hyron’s family and the whole Lions rugby community,” said Mark Alexander, president of the South African Rugby Union.

“There are no words to adequately convey our shock and the depth of sympathy we feel for his wife Maighlin, and for his extended family, friends, team-mates and loved ones during this time of immense sorrow.

“His untimely passing is a devastating loss, and we share in the grief of all who knew and loved him.”

Andrews left Sale in the summer to return to his native South Africa. He made 45 appearances for the club after arriving in February 2024 from the Durban-based Sharks as injury cover for England international lock Jonny Hill.

“Hyron was just a brilliant guy and a brilliant team-mate,” said Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson.

“He was so skilled on the field but off it, he was always someone you would want to have a beer with.

“He was funny and charismatic in his own unique, dry way and the lads, to a man, loved playing with him and being around him.

“It was a big move for Hyron and his wife Maighlin to come to England, but he truly made a second home in Manchester. It was incredible to see how he and his family embraced the club and area.

“Most importantly, he was a loving husband to Maighlin and a doting father to his two gorgeous boys. It was an absolute privilege to get to know him and it’s just absolutely devastating for everyone.”

While he was yet to earn senior international honours, Andrews had represented the Junior Springboks in 2015.

Andrews’ death comes 10 years on from the sudden death of Munster coach Anthony Foley in Paris before a Champions Cup fixture.

Foley, 42, died in his sleep on the eve of a match against Racing 92 after a heart condition caused fluid to build up in his lungs.

Munster’s present-day players will wear commemorative tops, featuring the Munster club crest and Foley’s shirt number eight as part of their pre-match routine at their match against Racing on Saturday.

The Lions, who play their home matches at Ellis Park, are making their first appearance in Europe’s premier club competition, with South African sides introduced into the continental competition in the 2022-23 season.

They have won two of their first three matches in the United Rugby Championship so far this season, including beating defending champions Leinster in their first game of their campaign.

Sara Baeur, a chocolatier from Montana, USA, booked a place to stay in Northern Morocco for next year’s total solar eclipse, only to be contacted by the host who had an unwelcome message for her

A family was told they’d be locked out of a rental home if they turned up, despite paying £3,400 for the property.

Solar eclipse enthusiast Sara Bauer booked a place to stay in the Moroccan resort of Marwan for the first week of August 2027, desperate to see the astrological phenomenon from the best possible spot. The northern seaside town is a perfect place to catch the eclipse, which includes an incredible eight minutes of totality – about three times longer than this summer’s.

The Montana woman booked the beachfront property and started looking forward to what’s been dubbed ‘the eclipse of the century’. However, she claims she became alarmed after receiving a message from the host, demanding that she cancel the booking. If she didn’t, she was told her family would be locked out of the home, she alleges.

After Sara gave in and cancelled the booking, she saw the same property relisted for six times the price, she claims.

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After she was first contacted by the host, the chocolatier, who runs Chocolate Eclipse, told the Mirror: “The host of my Airbnb in Morocco is demanding that I cancel my reservation. He says he will be penalised badly if he cancels it. He said he’s selling the place before next year and didn’t realise at first that I had booked so far out. He says he will be penalised if he does the cancellation, but will if I refuse to cancel.”

Sara added: “He had said I wouldn’t have access even if I didn’t cancel.”

Concerned that she’d fly all the way to Morocco to find a locked house, Sara “caved” and accepted the cancellation request. The host told her that the property was being removed from the rental market for renovations. However, Sara later found the same property listed for the same week for £20,400 – six times more than she paid.

After being contacted by the Mirror, Airbnb deactivated the listing and penalised the host. An Airbnb spokesperson said: “Issues of this nature are rare, and where we determine misuse of our cancellation policy, hosts not only lose the income from the booking, but face consequences we apply, including fees of up to 50% of the booking cost, a block on rebooking their listing for the same dates, impact on search ranking and where warranted, suspension or deactivation of the account. Our initial handling of this report fell short of the standards we expect, and feedback will be provided to the agents. We have deactivated the listing, and have applied the relevant penalties in line with our policies on host cancellation. The guest has been offered rebooking support and a coupon as a gesture of goodwill, which has been positively received.”

Hosts who cancel Airbnb stays without a legitimate reason face a 50% fee on the reservation cost, calendar blocks that prevent them from accepting reservations during the affected dates, and potential consequences for their Superhost status and listing search ranking. Airbnb says cancellation rates have dropped 30% year over year since more deterrents were introduced in July 2023.

The huge demand for places to stay along the path of totality during next year’s solar eclipse has driven prices up sharply. Some property owners have resorted to canceling reservations in a bid to make hay while the sun shines.