Hailing from Kuils River in the Western Cape, Lyle Hendricks attended the prestigious Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, emerging as a standout talent amongst several outstanding juniors. His schoolboy form suggested that higher honours were on the cards, and he was duly rewarded with a callup to the 2016 Western Province squad at the U18 Academy Week. A physically impressive midfielder, what set Hendricks apart from his peers was an ability to gain valuable yardage through aggressive ball-carrying, whilst also showing all the creative traits to suggest an enviable distribution ability.

A year later, Lyle was an integral part of WP’s U19 Currie Cup campaign, establishing himself as the team’s goal kicker, vice-captain and one of the leading lights in the competition. It came as little surprise when Hendricks was selected for his country at the 2018 World Rugby U20 Championship, where he made the number 12 jersey his own. By this stage, Hendricks was already an established member of the University of the Western Cape team that earned promotion to the Varsity Cup, culminating in his senior professional debut for Western Province in the 2019 Supersport Rugby Challenge at just 19 years of age. Superbly consistent and calm under pressure, he received the ultimate honour of a Super Rugby squad callup in 2020.