Category Archives: Sports News

Sport24.co.za | Blitzboks slip behind NZ in overall standings

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Cape Town – The Blitzboks have slipped behind New Zealand to second on the overall World Rugby Sevens Series standings.

READ: Blitzboks draw England for Sydney Sevens

The All Blacks Sevens, who lost to South Africa in the Cup final in Dubai earlier this month, got revenge at Cape Town Stadium when they beat the Blitzboks 19-12 in the semi-finals on Sunday.

New Zealand went on to thrash Argentina 38-14 in the final, while the hosts had to settle for a bronze medal, courtesy of a 19-17 win over Canada in the playoff for third place.

“I’m so proud of how the boys played this weekend and last weekend,” New Zealand captain Scott Curry told the World Rugby Sevens Series’ official website. “It could have gone either way after we lost our first pool match against USA yesterday (Saturday) but day two is another day. We started fresh and really worked for each other and that’s what won it for us. We’ll look forward to our home tournament in Hamilton coming up soon – it’s a new city and they really love their rugby there.”

The Kiwis are now two points clear of South Africa in the overall World Rugby Sevens Series 2018 standings with eight stops remaining.

The teams will regroup in Sydney on the weekend of January 26-28.

Sport24.co.za | Powell pleased with Blitzboks’ Day 1 at CT Sevens

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Cape Town – The Springbok Sevens finished the first day of the Cape Town Sevens as one of three undefeated teams and will face Fiji in the Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

The Blitzboks outplayed Russia 40-5, France 31-5 and Kenya 26-7 in Pool A on a day that saw a number of upsets in the Cape Town Stadium, with speedster Seabelo Senatla also reaching a special milestone in the green and gold.

The Fijians were surprised by Canada in their pool, while the USA also overcame last weekend’s Dubai finalists, New Zealand, in a convincing performance.

The sold-out crowd at the Cape Town Stadium came to see the Blitzboks in action though, and the defending HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions did not disappoint.

A record-breaking try-feat by Senatla had the crowd buzzing early, with the Blitzboks’ all-time leading try-scorer notching up a hat-trick against Russia, which was followed by his 200th try in the next match against France. He added a fifth one for the day against Kenya for good measure.

Senatla became the fifth player to reach 200 World Series tries, but achieved the feat in the fewest number of tournaments – only 35. He joined an exclusive club which currently consists of Dan Norton (England, 272), Collins Injera (Kenya, 246), Santiago Gomez Cora (Argentina, 230) and Ben Gollings (England, 220).

Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell was happy with his team’s performance, especially the way they defended in the final match against Kenya.

“We only conceded three tries today, which was good, and our defensive structures stood up well, especially against Kenya,” said Powell.

“There was the odd missed tackle by an individual, but overall I am pleased with the way we defended. We have a couple of things to work on, but to be fair to the guys, it was quite physical out there.”

Blitzbok captain Philip Snyman said their performance on Sunday will determine if the performance in their home tournament could be deemed a success: “It was windy, which affected the passing, but the conditions were the same for all the teams.

“We could have executed a bit better on attack at times, but we will work through those things and come back strong on Sunday. All the guys have now experienced how it feels to play in front of a packed Cape Town Stadium, so we can focus on executing on that we need to out there.”

Scorers:

GAME 3

SA 26 Kenya 7

South Africa

Tries: Ruhan Nel, Kyle Brown, Philip Snyman, Seabelo Senatla

Conversions: Branco du Preez (2), Cecil Afrika

Kenya

Try: Willie Ambaka

Conversion: Brian Tanga

GAME 2

SA 31 France 5

South Africa

Tries: Kwagga Smith, Philip Snyman, Chris Dry, Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel

Conversions: Branco du Preez (2), Cecil Afrika

France

Try: Stephan Parez

GAME 1

SA 40 Russia 5

South Africa

Tries: Seabelo Senatla (3), Branco du Preez, Tim Agaba, Rosko Specman

Conversions: Du Preez (3), Cecil Afrika, Justin Geduld

Russia

Try: Roman Roshchin

Cup quarter-finals for Sunday, December 10:

12:04: South Africa v Fiji

12:26: England v New Zealand

12:48: Canada v France

13:10: United Stated v Argentina

Sport24.co.za | Mourinho, Guardiola ‘twinned’ in hunt for glory

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Manchester – Pep Guardiola says he and Jose Mourinho‘s obsession with winning trophies makes them “twins” despite the perceived difference in their styles as the two great rivals prepare for the Manchester derby.

Guardiola is renowned for his philosophy of possession-based, passing football, which has he slowly instilled at Manchester City since his arrival as coach in 2016.

Manchester United boss Mourinho meanwhile is often seen more as more pragmatic and obsessed with winning, something that has brought him 25 trophies during his 17-year managerial career, including Champions League titles with Porto and Inter Milan.

Yet as the two managers prepare to face each other at Old Trafford on Sunday, Guardiola, himself a winner of 22 trophies and the same number of Champions Leagues, says they share that hunger for success.

“Definitely,” he said. “In that, we are twins. They want to win trophies, we want to win trophies.

“I think Antonio Conte is the same as well, and Jurgen (Klopp) and Mauricio (Pochettino) and in all the leagues around the world, the managers are there.”

Guardiola suggested in an interview with the BBC in September that United “play long balls up to (Marouane) Fellaini and (Paul) Pogba” as a priority, a criticism that appears to irk Mourinho.

“I never criticise my colleagues for the way they play. I never did in the past, I will never do it.

“Football is magnificent for that because every manager plays in the way they play. There are different ways to enjoy football. It’s simple like that.”

Guardiola and Mourinho have often been at loggerheads in the past, with a rivalry that dates back to their time as rival managers in Spain between 2010 and 2012.

While Guardiola was widely praised for his aesthetically pleasing approach at Barcelona, at Real Madrid Mourinho was seen as a coach for whom winning was the be all and end all, despite the record number of goals, points and away wins his team racked up in winning the 2012 La Liga title.

Guardiola won 21 trophies over seven years with the Barcelona first team and Bayern Munich – his other trophy the Spanish third division title with Barcelona B – but ended his first campaign at City empty-handed, while United won the Europa League and the League Cup.

The City manager looks set to put that right this time around, with his side unbeaten in the Premier League and eight points clear at the top going into the derby.

Guardiola has no intention of playing defensively at Old Trafford to maintain that lead.

“Winning, drawing or losing on Sunday, we are not going to win or lose the Premier League. It’s December,” he said.

“It’s an important game, because it’s United. You can get points and deny your opponent points. But it’s the same for them.”

Guardiola confirmed that David Silva will be fit for the match despite earlier saying he was a doubt.

Silva did not travel to Ukraine for Wednesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk in Kharkiv but reported for training on Friday morning.

Kick-off on Sunday is at 18:30 SA time.

Sport24.co.za | Starc: Smith should consult bowlers before follow-on decision

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Cape Town – Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc believes that in future skipper Steve Smith will consult with the bowlers before deciding whether or not to enforce the follow-on.

Smith chose not to enforce the follow on against England in Adelaide allowing the tourists back into the game as they knocked over Australia cheaply.

It was revealed during the Adelaide Test that Smith had not consulted the bowlers before making his decision.

Starc said after Australia won the Test to take a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series: “If we’re in that position again, I’m sure we’ll chat about it as a group.

“As Smithy said, it’s a long summer. It’s a massive series for us. The three of us (Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins) haven’t really played that much cricket together, in the longer formats anyway, and there’s a lot of cricket to be played after the series as well.

“So, in the end, we won the Test match anyway so the follow-on’s irrelevant.”

Australia have been quick to dismiss the decision as irrelevant however there is no doubting that England’s performance in the field lifted the tourists even if they didn’t win and it may spark a rally from Joe Root’s struggling charges.

Coach Darren Lehmann said of the decision: “(I have) no dramas with it. Obviously it was a tough call at night, but give your bowlers a rest … and the result is exactly what we’re after anyway. So that’s vindicated.”

Starc feels that this Australian team will become better and warned England that their Ashes campaign could get even tougher.

He said: “The exciting thing is our bowling group can still get better.

“We’ve obviously managed to take 40 wickets in the last couple of weeks and do some really good things, but I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

“‘Gazza (Lyon) is bowling outstandingly at the moment. That allows the other three of us to do what we need to do from one end if need be”, added Starc.

“Then Josh does what he does and allows Pat and me to bowl as fast as we want.

“I hope we see a nice, fast, bouncy wicket – a WACA of old – and we can get stuck into their batters again.”

The critical third Ashes Test gets underway in Perth on December 14.

Sport24.co.za | Bath in hot water for allowing Faletau to front Boks

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London – English club Bath have been charged by Premiership Rugby after allowing No 8 Taulupe Faletau to play for Wales against South Africa in Cardiff last weekend.

The allegation relates to the Premiership Rugby Board policy around international duty and specifically Faletau being released outside the periods specified in World Rugby Regulation 9.

“Bath have seven days to respond to the allegation and once that time has passed Premiership Rugby will issue a further update. Premiership Rugby will make no further comment until that time,” read a statement from the English rugby governing body.

Faletau played in Wales’ 24-22 win over the Springboks when his Bath side were facing Exeter in the English Premiership.

Sport24.co.za | Merseyside derby pick of the FA Cup 3rd round

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London – Liverpool will host city rivals Everton for the second time inside a month when they face-off in the third round of the FA Cup in early January after the draw was made on Monday.

Liverpool – who beat Everton in the 2012 semi-final, their last FA Cup meeting – also host their struggling neighbours in the Premier League next Sunday.

Everton have had a torrid time in the Premier League so far this season and failed to progress to the knockout stages in the Europa League, although they have the survival specialist Sam Allardyce now installed as manager.

Elsewhere, holders Arsenal’s first challenge is an away trip to second tier Nottingham Forest while Premier League leaders Manchester City face a potentially tricky home tie with Burnley.

Arsenal are not the only Premier League giant to face second tier opposition with Manchester United at home to Derby County and last season’s beaten finalists Chelsea away at Norwich.

Several Premier League sides could fall prey to giant killing exploits.

Inconsistent Southampton travel to Fulham, and struggling West Ham and Swansea are away at third tier highflyers Shrewsbury and Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.

Draw (Ties to be played January 5-7)

Ipswich v Sheffield United

Watford v Bristol City

Birmingham v Burton

Liverpool v Everton

Brighton v Crystal Palace

Aston Villa v Woking or Peterborough

Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan

Coventry v Stoke

Newport v Leeds

Bolton v Huddersfield

Port Vale or Yeovil v Bradford

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

Brentford v Notts County

QPR v MK Dons

Manchester United v Derby

Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom

Doncaster v Slough Town or Rochdale

Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon

Middlesbrough v Sunderland

Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester

Blackburn or Crewe v Hull

Cardiff v Mansfield

Manchester City v Burnley

Shrewsbury v West Ham

Wolves v Swansea

Stevenage v Reading

Newcastle v Luton

Millwall v Barnsley

Fulham v Southampton

Wycombe v Preston

Norwich v Chelsea

Gillingham or Carlisle v Sheffield Wednesday

Sport24.co.za | Senatla, Kwagga in love with Sevens all over again

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Cape Town – They will continue to pursue their XV ambitions and push for national selection in that code as well, but for now Seabelo Senatla and Kwagga Smith just loves being a Blitzboks again and what better way to celebrate their return to the team than winning the Dubai Sevens this weekend.

Before the weekend, both last played for the Springbok Sevens team in February, as the Blitzboks won both the Wellington Sevens and Sydney Sevens on route to the overall 2016/17 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title, so the win in Dubai on Saturday made it three titles in three outings for the duo.

Senatla had a slow start at the Dubai Sevens, even dropping a ball with the try-line beckoning in their opening match against Uganda on Friday, but soon was back to his best.

He scored a hat-trick in his next outing against Kenya and kept the tries coming, including vital five-pointers in the semi-final against Fiji and the final against New Zealand, to end the tournament as South Africa’s leading try-scorer.

READ: 7 best tries from Dubai Sevens

Smith was brutal all weekend and also scored a try in the final. In fact, he was named Player of the Final and with Senatla and Cecil Afrika also made the Tournament Dream Team.

Senatla, who extended his national try-scoring record to 196 tries, admitted that he was rusty at the start.

“You have to get back into it, as the game keep on evolving. You need to keep on learning all the time. This is a special team and you want to play with these brothers. These guys rejuvenate me,” Senatla smiled.

Smith was equally pleased with the effort.

“It is nice to be back. It is easy to shine, as the guy next you is doing the hard work in order to allow his team-mates to play at their best. It was a good win, as we played against opponents with different styles and strengths. We managed to stick to what we wanted to achieve and scored a good win out there. We must stay humble though and keep on working hard.”

For veteran forward Kyle Brown it was a happy return also. He missed eight tournaments after snapping knee ligaments almost a year ago.

“It was pretty incredible to be back. I was eased into action and I am grateful for that. Overall, we had some pretty awesome moments. We were fit enough and were lucky that conditions were pretty similar to our base in Stellenbosch. We were a bit rusty on day one, but played well on day two and that will give us some confidence going forward,” Brown said.

Sport24.co.za | Blitzboks overpower Fiji, book Dubai final

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Cape Town – A clinical display from the Blitzboks saw them oust Fiji 12-7 in the semi-finals of the Dubai World Series on Saturday.  

They were particularly impressive on defence, with some big hits and relentless contesting on the ground completely halting the Fijian charge. 

For all of their intent, the islanders just couldn’t penetrate the South Africans enough.

Just as was the case in their quarter-final, it was the Blitzboks who struck first when good, strong work from Kwagga Smith down the left flank resulted in Cecil Afrika diving over to make it 5-0.

With Fiji struggling to hold onto the ball and up against a resilient South African defence that was giving nothing away, a turnover then resulted in Blitzbok ace Seabelo Senatla cantering through to the line unopposed to make it 12-0 at the break.

Fiji bashed away throughout the second half, but by the time Jerry Tuwai finally got over the line, it was too late.

Earlier, the Springboks had beaten Samoa 26-10 in the quarter-finals thanks to two tries from Senatla.

The Blitzboks will face New Zealand in the final after they defeated England 12-5 in the other hard-fought semi-final.

Kick-off is at 17:33.

Scorers

SA

Tries: Cecil Afrika, Seabelo Senatla

Conversion: Cecil Afrika

Fiji

Try: Jerry Tuwai

Conversion: Tuwai

Sport24.co.za | Coetzee: Gelant is an ‘X-factor’ player

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Cape Town – Warrick Gelant has been knocking on the Springbok door for weeks now, and on Saturday he will get his chance when he starts a Test for the first time when the Boks take on Wales in Cardiff. 

A fullback by trade, Gelant will start on the left wing after he made his debut there off the bench in last weekend’s win over Italy. 

READ: Allister flirts with transformation flak

Courtnall Skosan is the man who loses his place, but Coetzee feels that in Gelant he has an “X-factor” player. 

“I’m really excited to see Warrick starting. It’s a great opportunity for him and I think he has consistently played really well since his return to Super Rugby and Currie Cup this year. I think his injury last year set him back a bit,” Coetzee said of the 22-year-old. 

“It’s not just at fullback … he’s one of those X-factor players that you need in your team whether at 15 or 11. He’ll make an impact.

“He understands both positions, like Dillyn Leyds, and that’s an added advantage with playing against a strong Welsh team with an experienced 10 in (Dan) Biggar who understands the kicking game very well.”

One of the concerns with Skosan was his ability under the high ball, and given that Gelant is a natural No 15, Coetzee is hoping that the Boks will be stronger in that department.

The coach also pointed to Gelant’s kicking game

“He’s a very astute kicker for a winger. Not all wingers are natural kickers of the ball and he kicks with both feet,” said the coach.

“I’m happy with his kicking game and the fact that he’s such a good rugby player. You’ve seen in Currie Cup how devastating he was with his attacking kicking game, so hopefully that will all add to the plan.

“We have been monitoring Warrick for a long time and he’s been part of the plan from the outset.”

Kick-off on Saturday is at 16:30 (SA time). 

Teams:

Wales

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rob Evans

Substitutes: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18. Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Warrick Gelant, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Oupa Mohoje 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Sport24.co.za | Powell will ‘gladly’ help the Springboks

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Cape Town – Blitzboks coach Neil Powell revealed that he will “definitely” offer his services to the Springbok XV if he is called upon to help.

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has been under-fire after making various records for the wrong reasons, which include the first ever defeat to Italy and the biggest margin of defeat ever against New Zealand (57-0).

Under Coetzee’s tutelage, the Boks have won 11 of 24 Tests – a 46% win-ratio.

The Springboks are currently in Cardiff to take on the Wales on Saturday in their year-ending Test.

Meanwhile in Dubai, Powell and his charges are gearing up for the opening leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which gets underway on Friday.

READ: New challenges await Blitzboks in Dubai

Powell admitted that although he would help the Springboks, he is committed to the Blitzboks until 2020.

“There are a lot of discussions taking place at this stage regarding Springbok XVs,” Powell said, as quoted by Dubai’s The National website.

“Everybody has been asking, ‘Will Allister stay, or will he go?’ I think there will be a lot of movement, and if they ask me to go and help the XVs side, I definitely will do it.

“As it stands now, I still have a contract with Springbok Sevens until 2020. Whether it be with XVs or sevens, the important thing is just try to make South African rugby better.

“If I can contribute in any way to do that, I will gladly do it.”

Blitzboks’ schedule for Friday, 1 December is (SA kick-off times):

08:52 – Uganda

12:36 – Kenya

17:53 – Canada