Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 27 August 12:30 pm

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

# First up is rugby: Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus hopes Cape Town will follow Johannesburg’s example on Saturday by respecting the All Blacks’ haka before the second Test. He asked the Highveld’s spectators to be quiet during the traditional pre-match performance after shouts of “olé olé” droned out the haka during previous matches in South Africa. Erasmus says the crowd was largely quiet last weekend, while the few who weren’t were hushed by those around them. He says the Boks regard it as an honour to face the haka.

More rugby, the Stormers-23 have been boosted by the return of fullback Dylan Miller and lock Gary Porter ahead of tomorrow’s final Currie Cup group match against the Lions in Johannesburg. Eric Basson will make his first start at loose forward in place of injured Divan Fuller, while Luke Burger shifts to inside centre in the absence of injured Cornel Smit. Junior Springbok flank Gert Kemp is set to make his Currie Cup debut from the bench. The Stormers-23 needs to win to stand a chance of making the semifinals.

# Cricket: South Africa faces the hosts in tomorrow’s opener of the T20 tri-series in the Namibian capital of Windhoek. The tournament also features the other co-host of next year’s one-day World Cup, Zimbabwe. Each team play the other two twice, and the top-two teams will reach next Sunday’s final. Björn Fortuin will captain the young Proteas side in the absence of several more experienced players, with exciting players such as Dewald Brevis, Jordan and Rubin Hermann, Duan Jansen, Kwena Maphaka and Lutho Sipamla in the squad.

# Tennis: Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are the top seeds in the US Open singles competitions, which start at Flushing Meadows in New York on Sunday. Zverev is seeded first in the men’s draw in the absence of injured world number one, Jannik Sinner of Italy. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is seeded second, followed by Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and four-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina is the second-seeded woman, followed by Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.

# And LIV Golf is scaling back operations and will cut most of its 300 staff starting next week. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which invested over 79.76-billion-rand since June 2022, will end its funding at the end of this year. The LIV season finished a week early after the cancellation of the Team Championship in Michigan. CEO Scott O’Neil says discussions are ongoing with a prospective lead investor and multiple minority investors:

Stay tuned for more news………….