Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 9 November 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says they have to improve before facing France and Ireland this coming weekend, despite humiliating Italy 66-7 in the first round of the Nations Championship’s northern series. South Africa raced to a 45-0 halftime lead after scoring six tries, but took the foot off the pedal in the second half. Erasmus says it wasn’t perfect, although he was pleased with the discipline, conceding just a few penalties and no cards:

# Golf: Two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau wouldn’t give details of his plans after leaving LIV Golf, but says he doesn’t regret joining the breakaway league. LIV announced last week that it was shutting down after being unable to secure financial backing. The American was probably the highest-profile player to join the lucrative league in 2022. De Chambeau says it was wonderful to play in front of crowds who rarely get to see the world’s best players at home, and believed LIV could reach more people in a new way.

# Cricket: South African-born Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has been dropped from the upcoming four-match Test Championship series against New Zealand. The 32-year-old has struggled with form, and since returning to the side for last season’s Ashes, he has averaged 23.66 from ten Tests and scored two half-centuries from 19 innings. His century drought dates back to Australia’s fourth Test against England in 2023. In the final Test of last month’s series in South Africa, Labuschagne scored zero and four, having not reached 40 in the first two Tests. 

# Tennis: World number three Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t regard himself as the favourite in the season-ending ATP Finals, starting in Turin, Italy, on Sunday. The Spaniard seems to have regained his top form, defeating American Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters final yesterday, after missing about four months of the season with a wrist injury. Alcaraz says anything can happen in Turin, where the world’s top eight compete:

And lastly, in more tennis news, Coco Gauff has beaten fellow American Jessica Pegula in a three-set thriller to make a winning start to her WTA Finals campaign in Indian Wells. The fourth-ranked Gauff won 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 after two hours and 39 minutes. Pegula fought back from 5-1 down in the second set, saving a match point before taking the tie-break. But Gauff dominated the deciding set to secure victory. The 2024 champion said she was pleased with her performance, having played her first match in more than a month.

Stay tuned for more news………….