Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 12 November 12:30 pm

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

# We kick off with rugby: Springbok lock Lood de Jager will miss the remainder of the end-of-year tour after being banned for four matches. This follows his red card for a shoulder charge on French full-back Thomas Ramos during South Africa’s 32-17 victory in Paris. An independent disciplinary committee upheld the permanent red card decision. De Jager will miss the Boks’ Tests against Italy, Ireland, and Wales, as well as his club Wild Knights’ Japan League One match against Brave Lupus next month.

Meanwhile, England’s coach, Steve Borthwick, has made seven changes to his team for Saturday’s clash against New Zealand at Twickenham. Captain Maro Itoje, George Ford, Jamie George, Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, Fin Baxter and Sam Underhill all come back into the starting lineup after dropping out of last weekend’s 38-18 victory over Fiji. Borthwick has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, with Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry and Henry Pollock among the reinforcements. Ollie Chessum and Tommy Freeman both miss out due to injury.

# Cricket: Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc hopes for bowler-friendly pitches in the Ashes Series against England, starting in Perth on the 21st. He warned groundsmen not to flatten surfaces in order to try and extend matches to five days, saying it would suit the visitors’ attack. Starc says it would be a problem if the focus was rather on revenue than on quality cricket. The next three Tests will be played in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, with the final one starting in Sydney on January fourth.

# Tennis: World number one Carlos Alcaraz has made it two wins from two at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The Spaniard defeated American Taylor Fritz in three sets. Alcaraz will seal the year-end world number one ranking and a place in the semifinals with victory over Italian Lorenzo Musetti tomorrow. Rival Jannik Sinner must defend his title and hope Alcaraz loses to Musetti, and does not reach the final, to claim the top ranking. Musetti outlasted Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

# And finally, motorsport: Team principal and CEO, Toto Wolff, is reportedly in talks to sell part of his stake in the Mercedes Formula One team. The deal values Mercedes at a record 104-billion-rand. He owns one-third of the team. According to reports, Wolff plans to bring an outside investor who would take a stake of about five-percent in the team, with the 53-year-old remaining in his roles. Mercedes won eight constructors’ titles in a row from 2014 to 2021 and is second in this year’s standings after 21 races.

Stay tuned for more news………….