Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 13 June 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says he will continue with his team rotation policy after using 50 players in their 13 Tests last year while capping 12 new players. Erasmus has named nine uncapped players in his 55-man squad for the clash against the Barbarians on June 28th and Tests against Italy and Georgia next month. He says they would like to do something similar to last year, where the senior players and some of the younger players contribute on the field:

More rugby news: The First Division of South Africa’s iconic Currie Cup competition kicks off tomorrow when Eastern Province will host SWD Eagles in Gqeberha, while the Griffons will play the Valke in Welkom. The other match will be between the Leopards and the Border Bulldogs in Potchefstroom. The six teams will play a single round, followed by the semifinals on the 19th of July, and the final a week later. A new champion will be crowned after last year’s winner, Boland Kavaliers, were promoted to the Premier Division.

# Golf: American JJ Spaun carded four birdies in a four-under par 66 to lead the US Open by one shot after the opening day at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. The 34-year-old’s closest challenge is South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who finished one shot behind after making six birdies in a round of 67. World number one Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion Rory McIlroy and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau were among those who struggled.

# Athletics: Olympic champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden walked away with the men’s pole vault title at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo, Norway. He set a new meeting record after clearing 6.15-metres, with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis second and Australian Kurtis Marschall third. South Africa’s Jo-Ané du Plessis finished third in the women’s javelin throw, which was won by Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi. Olympic champion Julien Alfred took home the women’s 100-metre crown ahead of Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith.

# And finally, motorsport: Red Bull’s Formula One world champion, Max Verstappen, will have to be very careful to avoid more penalty points in the next two Grand Prix races in Canada and Austria. He received a 10-second penalty after the previous race in Spain for colliding with the Mercedes of George Russell, leading to another three penalty points to his F1 super licence. That took his tally to 11 for the last 12-month period which expires on 30 June, and one more penalty point will lead to an automatic one-race ban.

Stay tuned for more news………….