Updated 5.20pm

THE FORMER RUGBY player charged with a shocking triple axe murder has appeared in court in South Africa.

Joseph Ntshongwana, 34, played for the Blue Bulls in Pretoria. Earlier, reports suggested he killed the men to avenge the gang-rape of his daughter which left her infected with HIV.

However, a police spokesman said the suspect did not have a daughter who had been raped. The player now faces three counts of murder, as well as one of attempted murder and a charge of grievous bodily harm.

Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge said: ”One victim was decapitated completely.

“His head was chopped off with an axe. The head was found in a refuse bin one kilometre away from the body.”

Police arrested the suspect at his home after bodies were found in suburbs south of Durban.

The Bulls are no stranger to controversy. One of Ntshongwana’s former team-mates Bees Roux faces trial for murder in August.

He is charged with beating a policeman to death last year when he was stopped late at night while allegedly drink driving.