Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 8 July 12:30 pm

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

# First up, we have soccer: Only eight teams remain in contention to win the World Cup, with the quarterfinals kicking off tomorrow. France’s quest to become only the second European nation to contest three consecutive finals will continue when they face Morocco in Boston tomorrow. 2010 champions Spain will take on Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday. England will face Norway, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time, in Miami on Saturday. Defending champions Argentina will wrap up the quarterfinals against Switzerland in Kansas on Sunday.

# Rugby: Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote says there are still areas they need to improve on before facing England in Monday’s semifinal of the Junior World Championship in Georgia. South Africa fought back from a 14-point deficit to beat Wales 52-33 and reach the penultimate round, scoring eight tries to five. Foote says from a defensive perspective and in terms of ball retention, there are definitely things they need to work on:

More rugby: The statistics are in South Africa’s favour in Saturday’s Test against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The two countries have faced off 30 times in the past, of which the Springboks have won 25 and the Scots only five. The world champions’ biggest victory of 68-10 came at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in December 1997, when flyhalf Percy Montgomery scored 26 points. Way back in 1951, the Boks triumphed 44-0 at the same field, leading to the anecdote that Scotland was lucky to get nil.

# Cricket: India is licking its wounds after being humiliated by England in the third T20 at Trent Bridge in Notthingham. The hosts posted 201 for seven after opener Phil Salt contributed 70 runs. Harshit Rana and Prince Yadav both took two wickets. India was then skittled out for just 76 within 12 overs, with Vaibhav Sooryavanship and Ishan Kishan top-scoring with 13 runs each. Josh Tongue claimed four victims and Jofra Archer three. This was India’s second lowest T20 total following their 74 against Australia in Melbourne in 2008.

# And the International Olympic Committee has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, in effect since October 2023. This will allow Russian athletes to compete in some team events and qualifying competitions ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The ban on the Russian flag and national anthem remains. IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, says an athlete’s participation in international competition should not be limited by the involvement of their government in a war:

Stay tuned for more news………….