New Zealand Super Rugby player Connor Garden-Bachop has died at the age of 25.
Garden-Bachop died in Christchurch “following a medical event” on Monday, New Zealand Rugby said.
The winger’s father, Stephen Bachop, played for Samoa and New Zealand and his mother, Sue Garden-Bachop, played for the New Zealand women’s team, the Black Ferns.
He was the nephew of scrum-half Graeme Bachop, who played for the All Blacks at the 1991 and 1995 World Cups, and for Japan at the 1999 tournament.
Garden-Bachop most recently played for the Highlanders for five years, leaving earlier this month at the end of their Super Rugby campaign, where they reached the quarter-finals.
“All of rugby walks alongside the Garden-Bachop family at this time and we are collectively united in our grief,” read the statement.
“Connor was a fantastic young player, an exciting New Zealand age-grade representative and a proud Maori All Black.
“Wherever he played, he was a committed and popular team-mate with infectious energy and someone who could light up the room.”
