Shocked teammates of ACT Brumbies forward Shawn Mackay, who died after being hit by a car in South Africa, will be allowed to opt out of this weekend's game, coach Andy Friend said yesterday.

Shocked teammates of ACT Brumbies forward Shawn Mackay, who died after being hit by a car in South Africa, will be allowed to opt out of this weekend's game, coach Andy Friend said yesterday.

Mackay and his distraught father would want the Brumbies to win their Super 14 match against South Africa's Stormers in Canberra on Saturday, Friend said, but there would be no pressure on grieving players to turn out.

"We'll certainly respect every player's view on that, for all of us this is an absolute tragedy," Friend told reporters.

"We've got a lot of young players who've never dealt with anything like this in the past. So if players aren't up for playing we're certainly not going to make them play."

Lock forward Mackay, 26, died on Monday of cardiac arrest after sustaining multiple injuries when he was hit by an armed response car in a Durban street while on the Canberra-based Brumbies' Super 14 tour of South Africa. - Sapa-AFP