Sydney - Australian international rugby player Shawn Mackay died Monday in a South African hospital, a week after being hit by a vehicle while crossing the street in Durban, officials in Canberra said.

Mackay, 26, died after a heart attack, a spokesman for the Brumbies team said.

He had been in hospital since March 29, when he was knocked down after leaving a nightclub in the early hours of the morning.

"After his surgery Shawn contracted an infection in his bloodstream," Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said. "He deteriorated rapidly and suffered a cardiac arrest from which he didn't recover."

Mackay underwent surgery to fuse two vertebrae, two days later was brought out of an induced coma and showed movement in his legs and arms as well as recognizing his parents and girlfriend who had flown to South Africa to be with him.

Mackay captained the Australian Sevens team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006. (dpa)