Category Archives: Sports News

Sport24.co.za | Bulls could unleash fit-again Lood against WP

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Cape Town – Springbok lock Lood de Jager looks set to return to action after a long injury layoff.

De Jager, who was named Bulls captain ahead of the 2019 Super Rugby campaign, has been sidelined since March with a shoulder injury but Blue Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw said the second-rower could be included for Saturday’s Currie Cup opener against Western Province at Newlands.

“Lood has recovered fully from his shoulder injury and it looks like there is a chance that he will get some game time before the Springboks will need him,” Rossouw said on Monday.

Elsewhere, flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff has fully recovered from his knee injury and will likely wear the No 10 jersey against Western Province, with Handre Pollard on Springbok duty.

Former Lions lock Andries Ferreira, whose move to the Hurricanes failed due to injury, has linked up with the Blue Bulls and could be considered this weekend.

There was also some bad news as Rossouw confirmed that flank Nic de Jager tore his Achilles tendon in a warm-up match against the Pumas and will sit out the entire Currie Cup.

Saturday’s clash at Newlands is scheduled for 17:15.

Sport24.co.za | WATCH: The Bafana goal which sent the Pharaohs packing

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Cape Town – Bafana Bafana stunned the football world when they knocked tournament favourites and hosts Egypt out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Saturday in Cairo.

As it happened: Bafana Bafana v Egypt

Entering the match on the back of three disappointing groups matches, Stuart Baxter’s charges more than held their own against a side who boasted star Liverpool player Mo Salah in their ranks.

It was an 85th minute goal by Absa Premiership Player of the Year, Thembinkosi Lorch, that settled matters and will see Bafana Bafana play Nigeria in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, July 10 at 21:00 (SA time).

Baxter hailed the performance as a “masterclass“, while the president of the Egyptian Football Association (FA) Hani Abou Rida resigned and “sacked” his technical team after the hosts’ shock elimination.

WATCH AND ENJOY!

Sport24.co.za | ‘Links loving’ Lombard grabs Irish halfway lead

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Cape Town – Zander Lombard continued his love affair with links golf at the Irish Open as the South African carded a second round 67 to take the halfway lead at Lahinch Golf Club with a nine-under total, one stroke clear of Englishman Eddie Pepperell.

The 24-year-old announced himself to the golfing world last year at The Open Championship when he played his way into contention during the first three rounds at Carnoustie Golf Links, and that experience stood him in good stead during day two in the second Rolex Series event of the 2019 Race to Dubai.

“I’m so comfortable on links courses. It’s never just a normal shot. It’s always a little three-quarter, a little punch, judging the wind right. I’ve had great success on links golf in my amateur career. It’s just more good feelings here and hopefully I can take them into the weekend,” said Lombard.

“It’s really just been hard graft the last three months. I went through a bit of a bad spell, missing a few cuts by one, and just stuck to the process of my team. It just came together at the right time, I suppose, and I’m happy with the results so far.”

Pepperell, who signed for a second round 67 for an eight under total, will look to bolster his own links record as he chases a third European Tour victory and a first Rolex Series triumph.

The 28-year-old came close to winning this title at Royal County Down in 2015, losing out to Søren Kjeldsen in a three-way play-off, and also finished tied for sixth alongside Tiger Woods in last year’s Open Championship.

Lee Westwood will have his sights set on a second Rolex Series win after a three under 67 moved the Englishman to a three-way tie for third on seven under alongside Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Jorge Campillo of Spain.

The 46-year-old is part of a strong chasing pack, which includes his fellow former Ryder Cup players Andy Sullivan, Thorbjørn Olesen – both in a share of sixth on six under – and Rafa Cabrera Bello, who lies on five under alongside defending Irish Open champion Russell Knox and Cormac Sharvin of Northern Ireland, among others.

Seamus Power rallied with seven birdies in his final 12 holes to join three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington on four under – five off the pace – while Shane Lowry was two shots further back on two under par. 

Leading scores from the second round of the European Tour’s Irish Open at Lahinch on Friday (par 70, GBR & IRL unless stated):

131 – Zander Lombard (RSA) 64-67

132 – Eddie Pepperell 65-67

133 – Abraham Ancer (MEX) 66-67, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69-64, Lee Westwood 66-67

134 – Andy Sullivan 68-66, Wade Ormsby (AUS) 65-69, Park Hyo-won (KOR) 65-69, Niklas Lemke (SWE) 68-66, Brandon Stone (RSA) 67-67, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 65-69

135 – Robert MacIntyre 66-69, Cormac Sharvin 66-69, Sebastian Soderberg (SWE) 67-68, Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 65-70, Oliver Wilson 66-69, Paul Waring 67-68, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 69-66, Russell Knox 67-68, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 68-67

Selected

136 – Padraig Harrington 63-73, Matt Wallace 68-68, Martin Kaymer (GER) 66-70, Tommy Fleetwood 67-69

138 – Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 71-67, Jon Rahm (ESP) 67-71, Shane Lowry 66-72

139 – Ian Poulter 66-73

Sport24.co.za | Meghan at Wimbledon to watch old pal Serena

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The US-born Duchess of Sussex watched as seven-time champion Williams overcame a scare to beat Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a second round contest.

Prince Harry’s wife Meghan arrived on Court One after play had already got under way.

The duchess was flanked by two friends from her university days as she took her spot among spectators on the 12,000-seater court.

Genevieve Hillis and Lindsay Roth were fellow students of the royal who studied both theatre and international relations at Northwestern University, graduating in 2003.

Williams and Meghan have become close in recent years, inviting the 23-time Grand Slam champion to her wedding at Windsor Castle in May last year.

Meghan gave birth to her baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6 this year.

He is being christened on Saturday but the Sussexes are not revealing who the godparents will be.

However, Williams ruled herself out of the guessing game.

“No. I’m working on Saturday,” Williams said.

The 37-year-old American — bidding to join Margaret Court with a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title — had struggled to impose herself on an opponent ranked 133 in the world out on court.

Earlier Swiss great Roger Federer revealed he had recently had a tennis knockabout with Archie’s cousin Prince George.

The five-year-old is the son of Harry’s brother Prince William and his wife Kate. She turned up to Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The Duchess of Cambridge saw some of the action on the outside courts before taking her place in the Royal Box on Centre Court.

Williams was asked if she might one day play tennis with Archie, as Federer did with George, but she said she was busy training up her daughter Olympia, who will be two years old in September.

“I’m actually working on Olympia’s game. Maybe she can give tips to him. She’ll be his older sister.

“We like to do a lot of sports with Olympia. Actually she likes soccer more, so we’ll see.”

Sport24.co.za | Tour insists it is working for a greener sponsors’ caravan

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“For five years now, we have been working with our partners to reduce plastic in the gifts that sponsors give the public,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme wrote to French MPs who recently published a paper on the subject.

“We have included in the specifications and standards that we impose on our partners, the obligation to be part of a process to reduce the use of plastic.

“For example, caps and T-shirts that once were packaged in a plastic bag are now always distributed without packaging.”

About 30 MPs, led by Francois-Michel Lambert of the French Green Party, had denounced the plastic pollution caused by the “18 million goodies that are distributed and thrown into the wild”.

Prudhomme responded that: “The number of gifts, which reached 18 million in 2017, will fall to 15 million in 2019 from the 160 decorated vehicles and 31 sponsors.”

The MPs also criticised the tacky quality of the free gifts and said that while they were “lovers of the Tour”, they were “even more in love with our countryside, our mountains”.

They called for “an advertising caravan free of these plastic objects that we do not need”.

Prudhomme responded that the Tour was taking action.

“It seems to us that sponsors are keen to hand out gifts that please the public and can be taken home,” he said.

Prudhomme also said the “leaflets, leaflets, leaflets, leaflets”, that used to litter the roadside after the caravan, which has been part of the Tour since 1930, passed “have already been banned”.

Prudhomme said that the Tour was also striving to reduce its environmental impact on 82 sites on the 2019 route that form part of the “Natura 2000” European network of protected areas and habitats.

He said the caravan would stop distributing gifts and turn off their sound systems in those areas, while the television helicopters would not fly over.

Sport24.co.za | Bafana Bafana, fans sweat on final day AFCON results

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Cape Town – Bafana Bafana and their supporters face an anxious wait to discover whether or not they will progress to the last 16 stage of this year’s Africa Cup on Nations (AFCON) tournament.

Starting the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to the Ivory Coast, Bafana bounced back with a 1-0 win against Namibia courtesy of a Bongani Zungu goal.

It was therefore all to play for against Morocco in their final Group D match on Monday with a draw sure to guarantee Stuart Baxter’s men a passage to the next round.

Alas, it was not meant to be.

South Africa suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat against the Atlas Lions thanks to a 90th minute M’bark Boussoufa strike.

Bafana failed to register a single shot on target and only had two attempts at goal in the 90 minutes.

Playing at the same time, the Ivory Coast beat Namibia 4-1 to finish second in the group, behind Morocco.

With a third place finish in the group, the defeat leaves progression in the tournament out of Baxter’s charges’ hands and having to rely on results in Tuesday’s Group E and F matches.

The top two teams from each group (A-F) will advance to the Round of 16, with the four best third-placed teams (from the six groups) also qualifying.

In Tuesday’s final round of matches, South Africa will need several results to go their way.

Depending on what happens in the Group F matches, Bafana may need some help in Group E’s final day matches.

Ghana will need to beat or draw with Guinea-Bissau while Cameroon must, ideally, beat Benin. A draw between Cameroon and Benin could be enough to see Bafana through, provided the Group E elimination scenarios haven’t materialised.

In Group E, Tunisia and Mali will have to preferably beat Mauritania and Angola, respectively.

Should Mauritania and Angola win however, Bafana will be eliminated, regardless.

Should Mauritania win and Angola draw, Bafana will also be eliminated, regardless.

Should Mauritania draw and Angola win or draw, Bafana’s fortunes will be determined by results from Group F

Group F’s matches will be played at 18:00 while Group E’s will follow at 21:00 on Tuesday.

Sport24.co.za | Semenya powers to victory at Prefontaine Classic

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Stanford – Caster Semenya swept to victory in the 800m at the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday, extending a four-year reign of dominance that is under threat from new IAAF rules governing testosterone levels in female athletes.

The 28-year-old South African star, racing in her favourite event for the first time since May 3, cruised home in 1:55.70 at Stanford University’s Cobb Track & Angell Field.

The two-time Olympic champion has not been beaten in the 800m since September 2015. Her winning streak includes 30 consecutive victories in major finals.

That streak was never in danger on Sunday as Semenya pulled away from the field with 300m to go before crossing the line 15 metres clear of second placed the United States’ Ajee Wilson, who took second in 1:58.36. Raevyn Rogers was third in 1:58.65.

Before Sunday’s Diamond League event in California, Semenya had not raced in the 800m since scorching to a world-leading 1:54.98 in Doha on May 3.

That outing came just days after she lost a court challenge against International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules forcing female athletes to regulate their testosterone levels.

The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport said while it feared the IAAF regulations were “discriminatory”, the measures were “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to preserve the integrity of female athletics.

Semenya successfully obtained an injunction against the introduction of the new IAAF rules on June 3 after a ruling by the Swiss Federal Tribunal, pending a full hearing.

Until a final decision from the Swiss tribunal, Semenya is free to run in the 800m. 

If the court eventually upholds the earlier CAS ruling, Semenya will be forced to take medication to suppress her testosterone levels, or else switch to longer events.

In other events early Sunday, Rai Benjamin of the United States won the 400m hurdles with a world leading time of 47.16, taking the line ahead of Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands (48.94) and Turkey’s Yasmani Copello (49.37).

Benjamin’s time was the ninth fastest of all-time and followed his victory in the Rome Diamond League meeting on June 6. 

There was another world leading time in the women’s steeplechase, where Kenya’s world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech finished well clear of the chasing pack in 8:55.58.

Chepkoech’s time was the fifth fastest in history. The 27-year-old now owns three of the five fastest times ever run over the distance.

In the women’s 100m, Ivory Coast’s Marie Jasee Ta Lou won a slow race in 11.02, with Americans Aleia Hobbs and Teahna Daniels placing second and third.

Sport24.co.za | Nadal, Djokovic have made me the player I am – Federer

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London – Roger Federer admitted on Saturday that his epic Grand Slam rivalry with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has helped propel him to his status as one of the greatest players of all time.

Federer is about to embark on his bid to lift a ninth Wimbledon title and record-extending 21st major.

Nadal has 18 Grand Slams while Djokovic lays claim to 15.

Between them, the trio have captured 53 of the last 64 majors, stretching back to Federer’s 2003 Wimbledon breakthrough.

“I think these things don’t come around so often,” said Federer.

“It shows that side-by-side we can have incredible careers. Funny enough, you always think somebody takes away something from the other. Probably we have. 

“At the same time, we also pushed each other to greater heights, to improve maybe Rafa’s grass, Novak’s whatever, hard courts, my clay. 

“I think we definitely became better because of one another.”

Federer will become the oldest Grand Slam champion of all time if he lifts another Wimbledon title in two weeks’ time.

A month short of his 38th birthday, the Swiss will overtake Ken Rosewall who had just turned 37 when he lifted the 1972 Australian Open title.

In another indication of his All England Club dominance, Federer needs only five more wins to reach the 100-victory mark at the tournament.

He has been seeded second for Wimbledon which starts on Monday ahead of Nadal despite lagging a place behind the Spaniard in the world rankings.

Nadal says the system is unfair but Federer insists the seedings will have little effect on the outcome.

“We knew that the system was in place. I guess it rewards you for playing well on grass,” said Federer.

“Just happens that this year I get bumped up. Kevin Anderson got bumped up. Back in the day, it was tougher. Guys who were seeded became unseeded. So that was a bigger storyline I think than this one. 

“Just happens that Rafa obviously went down, so I think that makes the news.”

The draw left two-time champion Nadal potentially facing Federer in the semi-finals – if he gets that far.

The 33-year-old could meet Nick Kyrgios in the second round, five years after the then unknown Australian knocked him out in one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks.

However, Federer cannot be too complacent with a possible semi-final against Anderson.

Last year, he lost in the quarter-finals to the giant South African despite having a match point.

Sport24.co.za | Kings board member in hot water for calling Mallett a ‘racist’

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Cape Town – Bantwini Matika, a member of the Southern Kings’ executive council, is in hot water after claiming that rugby analyst Nick Mallett is a racist.

According to Netwerk24, the Kings have labelled Matika’s comments “totally unacceptable” after he took to Facebook to share his displeasure at the news that Mallett would help pick the next Kings coach.

It was reported earlier in the week that Mallett would help the executive council of the Southern Kings pick a replacement for Deon Davids.

Matika, whose Facebook post has since been removed, wrote: (sic) “As a board member of the Kings I don’t think it’s true that we need help from Racist Mallet to find a suitable coach for our team. Mallet is not suitable to help us and look for a coach who will be dedicated to. build a totally transformed Kings Team. Mallet will never support our trans formation agenda and therefore ill equipped to choose an appropriate coach for the Kings. The board has not made any decision on the selection process and the Kind of candidate we need as Kings to demonstrate to the country what needs to be done in our franchise.”

Loyiso Dotwana, chairperson of the Kings’ board told Netwerk24 that Matika’s comments “do not represent the views of the executive council of the Kings” and that “we’ve already started with a process to handle the matter internally”.

Matika, however, told the Afrikaans publication he was unaware of any plans the Kings had to discipline him.

Mallett, who coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000, was involved in a racial storm last year when he and Naas Botha were accused by fellow SuperSport pundit Ashwin Willemse of racism.

However, an internal investigation into the matter cleared Mallett and Botha of any wrongdoing.

The report earlier in the week indicated that Mallett will be assisted in the process by Tim Southey, a former Proteas manager and Cricket South Africa High Performance Manager.

The Kings, who compete in the PRO14, recently parted ways with Davids, who had been at the helm since 2016.

The new Kings coach has a tough task at hand, as the team struggled in their first two seasons in the PRO14.

In the 2018/19 season the Kings finished bottom of Conference B, winning just two of 21 matches and in their debut season in 2017/18 they won just one of 21 in the same conference.

Matika

Sport24.co.za | Hawies Fourie named new Cheetahs coach

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Cape Town – Hawies Fourie was on Thursday confirmed as the new head coach of the Cheetahs‘ PRO14 outfit.

The Cheetahs announced at a press conference in Bloemfontein that Fourie signed a four-year deal.

“After the position of head coach was advertised in May, Free State Rugby received more than 30 strong applications from all over the rugby world. The top six candidates were invited to do a presentation.
Hawies’s presentation and knowledge of the game impressed the interview panel and he immediately stood out as the successful candidate to lead the Cheetahs,” the union posted on its official website.

Fourie, who has been the Maties head coach for the past four seasons, replaces Franco Smith, who will become Italy’s national coach later this year.

Smith will still coach the Cheetahs in the upcoming Currie Cup, with Fourie taking over as head coach once the PRO14 season starts.

“Fourie will join the Free State Cheetahs during the Currie Cup as an observer, but will not be directly involved with coaching. This will afford him time to study the culture and players. He will take over full reins with his coaching staff after the last Currie Cup match,” the Cheetahs statement continued.

Fourie is no stranger to the Cheetahs, having been the team’s backline coach under Naka Drotske between 2007 and 2013.

After that he became Griquas’ head coach, before moving to Stellenbosch in late 2015.

He coached Maties to runner-up spots in the 2016 and 2017 Varsity Cup competitions before winning the title the following two years.

Before he joined the Cheetahs in 2007, Fourie coached Boland between 2002 and 2007 and was also backline coach at the Stormers in 2006.