Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 23 April 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with rugby: Ireland will look to build on their back-to-back Six Nations crowns when they take on New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, and Australia in their Autumn Nations Series in November. The opener in Dublin will be against the All Blacks, who knocked the Irish out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals last year. The series will be Andy Farrell’s last as Ireland’s head coach before he takes a hiatus to oversee the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in 2025. Farrell says it promises to be a series to remember.

# Netball: Newly appointed Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk has named her first squad following a rigorous selection process. Nine members of the squad of 15 were integral to South Africa’s World Cup campaign last year, including stalwarts Karla Pretorius, Ine-Mari Venter, and Khanyisa Chawane. Van Dyk says the squad reflects a harmonious blend of seasoned expertise and emerging talent, comprising seven domestic and eight overseas-based players. Van Dyk’s inaugural match will be against Malawi in August.

# Roadrunning: South Africa’s golden girl of long-distance running, Gerda Steyn, will have her work cut out for her if she wants to make a mark in the Olympics marathon in Paris. This follows after defending Olympics champion Peres Jepshirchir set a new world record during the London marathon on Sunday. The Kenyan broke the ribbon in two-hours-16 minutes-16-seconds, an improvement of 45 seconds on the previous record set in 2017. Steyn’s best time over the 42-kilometer race is two-hours-24 minutes-3-seconds.

# Tennis: Spanish veteran Rafael Nadal confirmed his participation for Team Europa in this year’s Laver Cup competition against Team United States, taking place in Berlin, Germany, in September. This is expected to be his final tournament before his retirement. Team Europe’s captain, Björn Borg, describes Nadal as an absolute legend of the sport and a true champion in every sense of the word. This will be Borg’s last year as captain, with former Swiss great Roger Federer touted as taking over from next year.

# And finally: Novak Djokovic, Simone Biles, and Jude Bellingham were some of the winners at the Laureus Sports Awards in Madrid. Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic won the Sportsman of the Year award for a record-equalling fifth time, while the Sportswoman of the Year went to Spain’s soccer player Aitana Bonmatí. American gymnast Biles won the Comeback of the Year Award. England and Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham won the World Breakthrough of the Year Award. Djokovic says sport is a unifier:

Stay tuned for more news………….