Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 1 September 12:30 pm

Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:

# We kick off with rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus expects an even more intense match against the All Blacks at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday. The series is currently drawn one-all, and he thinks both countries are now into hard Test mode. Erasmus decided to change his front row, using Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw in the starting team and moving Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit to the bench. He says this is due to the different weather than in Cape Town last weekend.

Meanwhile, Erasmus says he is frustrated by the narrative being formed around the continued attempts of the All Blacks to influence the referees through the media. New Zealand coach Dave Rennie expressed his grievances about the Boks’ scrum technique after the second Test, suggesting South Africa was walking around opponents in the scrums. Erasmus says he trusts the methods of his scrum coach, Daan Human:

# Cricket: Australia has named its one-day squad to take on South Africa and Zimbabwe, with Marnus Labuschagne being the notable exclusion. He struggled on the tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh in June. Mitch Marsh, Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood return, while youngsters Joel Davies and Ollie Peake maintain their places in the squad. Joel Davies is in line to make his ODI debut. Australia will play three matches against Zimbabwe from September 15 and another three against the Proteas from September 24.

# Tennis: Seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz got his US Open title defence off to a winning start, beating Russia’s Roman Safiullin. The Spaniard has not played a competitive singles match since April due to injury. Swiss Stan Wawrinka played the final US Open match of his career, suffering defeat to Italian Matteo Berrettini in the opening round. In the women’s draw, defending champion, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio, while last year’s runner-up, American Amanda Anisimova, defeated compatriot Ashlyn Krueger.

# And lastly, soccer: Argentina’s Lionel Messi has retired from international soccer, leaving a record-breaking legacy of 125 goals from 207 games. The 39-year-old played in six World Cups, won the tournament in Qatar in 2022 and led Argentina to the final this year but lost to Spain. Messi, who is Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer and most-capped player, says he has given everything to the national side but now has nothing left to give. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner adds his father’s passing has made him more convinced to retire.

Stay tuned for more news………….