Former Springboks hooker Lukas van Biljon was stabbed repeatedly in the chest in an attack in his family farm which saw his father shot three times and his children threatened to be killed, according to reports.
Van Biljon played 13 tests for South Africa between 2001 and 2003 and was a regular in Super Rugby at the start of the millennium survived the attack by six men at the farm at Oranjeville, Free State Province, the Daily Mail reports.
The 47-year-old was told by the attackers that if he fought back his children, who were tied up, would be killed.
Van Biljon’s father Andre was meanwhile shot three times in the chest and hand after he attempted to make a call to help via radio to nearby farmers. He is in a critical condition in hospital.
South African Police spokesman Captain Loraine Earle said two of the attackers were arrested, the Daily Mail reports.