Sport News 12.30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 30 April 12:30 pm

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

# Starting with rugby: An independent appeal panel has upheld a disciplinary sanction of misconduct against former Western Province Rugby Football Union president, Zelt Marais. The SA Rugby Union suspended Marais for ten years in 2024 after he was found guilty on eight charges of misconduct for breaching the SARU Code of Conduct. The panel found that the sanction imposed by the Judicial Officer was well-motivated and took into account the total lack of remorse on Marais’s part. Marais is ineligible to hold any position in rugby until October 2034.

And in international rugby: Former Ireland assistant coach, Les Kiss, has been named as Australia’s next head coach, replacing Joe Schmidt in 2026. The 60-year-old, who was a former assistant to Schmidt with Ireland from 2013 to 2015, has signed a two-year contract. Schmidt will remain in his role for the upcoming Test series against the British and Irish Lions and the Rugby Championship. Kiss, who will become the Wallabies’ fifth head coach in seven years, says he is humbled by this opportunity:

# And now tennis: Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo knocked out top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, 7-5, 6-3, to reach the Madrid Open quarterfinals. Ninth seed Russia’s Daniil Medvedev avoided an upset of his own as he advanced to the last eight by rallying past American Brandon Nakashima, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Norwegian Casper Ruud defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4. In the women’s draw, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Peyton Stearns.

More tennis news: Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week’s Italian Open with no reason given. The Serb has competed in Rome in every season since 2007 and has won the event six times. The out-of-form Djokovic has suffered early exits in two clay-court tournaments in recent weeks, in Monte Carlo and Madrid. This is all ahead of the French Open, which the world number five has won three times. The second Grand Slam of the season starts on May 26.

# And finally some soccer: Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger has been handed a six-match ban for throwing an object at the referee during their Copa del Rey final loss to Barcelona. Rudiger and teammate Lucas Vazquez were shown red cards for their reaction to a foul given against Kylian Mbappe shortly before the final whistle. Vazquez has been handed a two-match ban for his protests against the officials. Rudiger won’t be impacted by the ban, as he underwent knee surgery on Tuesday, with a timeline for his return unknown.

Stay tuned for more news………….