The funeral service of legendary former Springbok rugby player James Small will be held at The Wanderers Rugby Club on Thursday.

The funeral is set to start at 14:00 and gates expected to open around 12:00 for the scores of mourners who will be attending to celebrate Small’s life.

While the service will be taking place in a restricted area in respect of the family’s privacy, proceedings will be broadcast to the public area.

The popular wing died last Wednesday at the age of 50 after suffering a heart attack, Sport24 reported.

An autopsy found that Small had died of “ischaemic heart disease”.

According to the family, no accreditation is required for access to the public area and only VIP accredited people will have access to the private service area where no filming or photography will be permitted.

“Any friends of James, or the family or past players who wish to be added to the VIP accreditation list should submit their details to jamessmallmemorial@gmail.com for verification.”