Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 26 September 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with rugby: Coach Rassie Erasmus has released three players from the Springbok camp before Saturday’s final Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina in Mbombela. Ben-Jason Dixon returned to the Stormers and Canan Moodie and Johan Grobbelaar to the Bulls before the weekend’s start of the United Rugby Championship. Erasmus says he has confidence in his squad for the Test which will decide this year’s title, and it’s important that the national players assist the domestic franchises.

Meanwhile, Sam Cane will play his 100th Test for New Zealand on Saturday after being named in the starting lineup to face Australia in the final Rugby Championship match in Wellington. Beauden Barrett returns after illness and will partner scrumhalf TJ Perenara, who has replaced Cortez Ratima. Anton Lienert-Brown comes in at inside centre for Jordie Barrett, who has a knee injury, and Damian McKenzie drops to the bench. Coach Scott Robertson says they would have loved to win the championship:

# Swimming: Chad le Clos and Lara van Niekerk are fit again and will compete in the South African short-course championships, starting in Durban today. The event will give athletes the chance to qualify for the world championships taking place in the Hungarian capital of Budapest in December. Van Niekerk is a two-time Commonwealth champion while Le Clos won four Olympic medals. Both will participate in five items. Van Niekerk says she is 90-percent fit at the moment.

# Netball South Africa will host the biggest men’s National Championships to date at the Ellis Park outdoor courts in Johannesburg from today, the final being on Monday. The tournament will feature 67 teams competing across Senior A, B, and Under 23 divisions. Ekurhuleni is the defending champion. During the tournament, players will be selected to go for trials for national team selection. Netball South Africa’s president, Cecilia Molokwane, says the record participation underscores the sport’s growing popularity.

# And tennis: The Race to Turin is heating up, with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz becoming the third player to cement his place in the ATP Finals in Italy in November. He joins the top-two, Italian Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev from Germany, in the tournament featuring the season’s eight best singles players and doubles pairings. Twenty-one-year-old Alcaraz doubled his Grand Slam titles to four this year and also clinched silver at the Paris Olympics. He qualified for the finals for the third successive year.

Stay tuned for more news………….