Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 17 September 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with Rugby: Fiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu has revealed the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final between his team and England in France was hours from being called off. He alleges corruption in the country’s controlling body was at the heart of the matter. In an interview with the UK’s Daily Mail, Nayacalevu says the players were also promised bonuses that never materialised. He is playing for English Premiership club Sale Sharks at the moment, but the 34-year-old says he dreams of returning home to fix the system.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks forward coach Jason Ryan says they have analysed intensely areas to improve on and they have made good gains. New Zealand lost their last two tests against the Springboks in South Africa, and have won just one of their four Rugby Championship matches. The All Blacks face Australia in Sydney on Saturday where the Bledisloe Cup will also be up for grabs. Ryan says the pressure is on for them to start winning again:

# Gymnastics: US gymnast Jordan Chiles has filed an appeal in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, to reclaim her bronze medal from the Paris Olympic Games. She was stripped of her first individual Olympic medal after the Romanian gymnastics team challenged the decision to revise her final score in the floor exercise to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court upheld the challenge. Chiles’s attorneys say from start to finish, the procedures leading to the CAS panel’s decision were fundamentally unfair.

# Soccer: Speculation is intensifying that Benni McCarthy and Mamelodi Sundowns are in talks about his availability as coach. The former Bafana Bafana striker left his role as first-team coach at Manchester United at the end of last season and has reportedly expressed a strong desire to return to Africa to take charge of a major team. Amid the rumours, Sundowns are determined to start their defence of the Premiership title with a win over SuperSport United at the Loftus Versfeld this evening.

# And finally, Cricket: The Proteas men are currently in the United Arab Emirates, where they will take on Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series, starting tomorrow in Sharjah. South Africa is building squad depth by resting some key players, while welcoming back Lungi Ngidi, who returns from a calf injury to spearhead the bowling attack. The 28-year-old pace bowler says they are not underestimating Afghanistan:

Stay tuned for more news………….