Ireland’s under-20 rugby team is facing a highly emotional day after suffering two separate tragedies ahead of a crucial match against Fiji in the World Rugby Championship.
Last night one of the team’s stars Jack Oliver learnt of the death of his father, Grieg Oliver, after he was killed in a horrifying paragliding crash over Cape Town.
Oliver, 58, a former Scotland rugby international, is believed to have drowned yesterday after being ‘bashed against the rocks’ following the freak accident which saw him plunge down into choppy waves.
Six of the U20s team had attended Dublin’s St Michael’s College with Andrew and Max, who were both aged 18. The teenagers had just recently finished at the school before their tragic deaths.
Lining up for the national anthem ahead of the crunch match this afternoon, grieving players stood arm-in-arm wearing black arm bands on the pitch at Danie Craven Stadium in South Africa.
Ireland team stand for the national anthem wearing black bands in honour of Grieg Oliver and two Irish students, Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, at Danie Craven Stadium in South Africa
Munster rugby coach and former Scotland international Greig Oliver, 58, (pictured) has died after a paragliding crash
Jack Oliver arrives at Danie Craven Stadium in South Africa ahead of today’s U20s match between Ireland and Fiji. Jack learned his father was killed in a paragliding accident yesterday
Recent graduates Andrew O’Donnell (left) and his classmate Max Wall (right), both 18 and from the same school, died in separate tragic incidents over the weekend
Speaking before the announcement of Oliver’s death, coach Richie Murphy said his squad was ‘massively devastated’ at the deaths of the two boys.
‘I think the guys are definitely in a little bit of shock, very devastated obviously with what’s happened,’ he said.
‘I think that’s through the whole squad, obviously these guys know the young boys a lot better than some of the other members. Everyone is in the same sort of position where it’s shock. We’ve our doctor on hand, he’s looking after the guys.’
Murphy continued: ‘We’ve had a number of conversations with a couple of them and the guys were obviously very upset yesterday but definitely feeling a little bit better today and probably, not come to terms with it, but clarified what’s happening in their heads.’
Captain Diarmuid Mangan added: ‘A lot of lads in our squad would have known the two boys.
‘Everyone is just kind of trying to get around the lads and make sure they’re doing all right and they’re being picked up. It’s obviously an awful tragedy and we offer our condolences to the two families.’
18-year-old school pupil Andrew O’Donnell, pictured with the family dog
Tributes have been paid to the two teenagers, Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, as ‘bright, sporting, academic’ young men
The two 18-year-olds were on a post-exam holiday celebrating the end of their secondary education with dozens of classmates who have now flown home today after being left ‘traumatised’.
O’Donnell is believed to have fallen and hit his head while walking home along some cliffs to his hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning after a night out in Hora, the capital of Ios.
O’Donnell’s body was found on Sunday morning, and news of his death later that day caused his friend Wall to collapse from shock.
According to local media the youngster had a history of heart problems.
The boys’ devastated parents have travelled to Greece to bring home their remains, while their traumatised classmates are returning to Ireland via Bristol today.
Hours later Jack Oliver learned of the death of his father Grieg Oliver in a paragliding crash.
Oliver, had been an elite performance officer at Irish rugby club Munster, was just 58 years old. The proud father had been in South Africa to support his son Jack and the Ireland squad during the World Rugby U20 Championships.
During a tandem flight from Signal Hill overlooking the coast of Cape Town in South Africa, two pilots collided mid-air above Sea Point Promenade, a popular tourist area.
Oliver was reportedly a passenger during a tandem flight over the coast of Cape Town in South Africa when his craft crashed into another tandem paraglider. He played for Scotland three times in the 80s and 90s
Heartbreaking images have emerged of Jack Oliver, an Ireland U20s rugby union player, preparing for a World Cup clash against Fiji today
The view paragliders get taking off from Lions Head and Signal Hill of Camps Bay below and the Twelve Apostles mountain range
Rescue swimmers and paramedics at Rocklands Beach, Cape Town, who had recovered the body of former Scottish scrum half Greig Oliver, 58.
Oliver’s pilot deployed a reserve parachute and landed safely in the sea, but Greig could not recover from the crash and landed near the coast.
An eye-witness told MailOnline: ‘I saw a paraglider over the water deploy his second parachute about 50 metres up and 50 metres out to sea.
‘Both people fell into the water, and we all ran towards the wall. The waves were big, and the two guys were being bashed against the rocks.’
South African Hang-gliding and Paragliding Association (SAHPA) chairman Louis Stanford said that Greig’s death represents is the first tandem fatality in the country in over two decades.
‘Normally these tandem operations are run safely in a strict set of parameters. This is a very sad accident and the Civil Aviation Authority will be investigating.’
After the double tragedy for the Ireland side, a minute’s silence took place ahead of their match against Fiji at the Dannie Craven stadium in Stellenbosch, and will take place at all the other championship fixtures this afternoon.
Jack Oliver was set to start form the bench this afternoon, but has now been taken out of the squad.
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