Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 6 September 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with rugby: Springbok captain Siya Kolisi will face the All Blacks with a fractured nose in tomorrow’s Rugby Championship Test in Cape Town. He was in doubt for the rematch after being injured in last weekend’s match at Ellis Park, but was announced in the starting team yesterday. Coach Rassie Erasmus says Kolisi was given the medical advice to either play tomorrow or get his nose reset and miss the game. He decided his nose job could wait rather than being out for up to three weeks now.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks have a better record in Cape Town than the Springboks, having won seven of the ten Tests played in the Mother City. The first game between the teams in Cape Town was in 1928, with the All Blacks winning 13-5. The last match was in 2017 at Newlands, which the All Blacks won 25-24. Tomorrow’s winner will also clinch the Freedom Cup, which has been contested since 2004. The All Blacks have held the cup since 2010.

# Next up is cricket: Laura Wolvaardt and Marco Jansen were named women’s and men’s players of the year at the Cricket South Africa Awards held in Johannesburg. Proteas women’s captain Wolvaardt won five awards, including ODI player of the year and fans’ player of the year. Reeza Hendricks was named the men’s T20 international player of the year, while Quinton de Kock received the men’s ODI player of the year award. Western Province batter David Bedingham won both the newcomer and Test player of the year awards.

# We move on to tennis: World number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face American Jessica Pegula in the US Open women’s final tomorrow. Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, defeated American Emma Navarro, 6-3, 7-6, to become the first woman to reach back-to-back US Open finals since Serena Williams. Pegula beat Czech’s Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, to make her first Grand Slam final. Sabalenka says the match was tough but she is happy to be in the final again:

# We close with soccer: Portugal’s captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored the 900th goal of his career in his country’s 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory over Croatia in Lisbon. The strike, Ronaldo’s first since June, extended his record haul of international goals to 131. The 39-year-old has also contributed at club level for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and current club Al-Nassr. He converted the most goals for Madrid, where in nine years at the Spanish giants he achieved 450 goals in just 438 games.

Stay tuned for more news………….