Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 5 June 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named the same 54 players, nine of whom are uncapped, that attended the second national alignment camp in Cape Town last month. This large training squad is for the opening stages of the international season, which kicks off on 28 June against the Barbarians. The squad includes 31 Rugby World Cup players. The nine uncapped players in the group are Marnus van der Merwe, Neethling Fouché, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Cobus Wiese, Renzo du Plessis, Vincent Tshituka, Juarno Augustus, Ethan Hooker, and Ntokozo Makhaza.

# Cricket: The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport says Kagiso Rabada’s one-month ban earlier this year was due to testing positive for cocaine. The Proteas fast bowler returned home from his Indian Premier League stint with Gujarat Titans in April and revealed he had failed a drug test. SAIDS says Rabada had been tested in January, where the presence of Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, was detected. The 30-year-old will spearhead the Proteas’ bowling attack in the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s next week.

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mozambique in their COSAFA Cup Group A opener in Mangaung. Antonio Sumbane scored the match’s only goal in the 74th minute, earning his side three points. South Africa’s next encounter will be on Saturday when they take on Zimbabwe, who were held to a goalless draw against Mauritius. Coach Vela Khumalo, who is in charge of Bafana Bafana for this tournament, says overall they played well:

# Tennis: Three-time champion Novak Djokovic has set up a mouthwatering semifinal clash with world number one Jannik Sinner at the French Open. The 38-year-old Serbian defeated last year’s finalist Alexander Zverev of Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, as he continues his bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title. Sinner eased past Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, 6-1, 7-5, 6-0, becoming the first Italian man in history to reach six Grand Slam semifinals. Djokovic is expecting a tough match against Sinner:

# And finally, Golf: World number one Scottie Scheffler has secured his spot on the 2025 US Ryder Cup team, becoming the first automatic qualifier for the biennial competition set to take place at Bethpage Black in Long Island, New York. This marks the 28-year-old’s third consecutive Ryder Cup appearance. Scheffler will be joined by five other automatic qualifiers, plus six players selected by Team USA captain Keegan Bradley. Scheffler says he will do everything he can to help the team reclaim the Cup from Team Europe.

Stay tuned for more news………….