Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 20 March 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with rugby: Reigning world champions South Africa will play Scotland at Murrayfield on the tenth of November. This is part of Scotland’s autumn international Tests, where they will also play Fiji, Portugal, and Australia. The Springboks last met Scotland in last year’s World Cup, winning the group-stage encounter 18-3. Scotland finished fourth in the Six Nations Championship. Head coach Gregor Townsend says taking on the reigning world champions is the ultimate test for any team and they are looking forward to the match.

More rugby news is that Junior Springbok Player of the Year Corné Beets is set to replace World Cup winning eighthman Jasper Wiese at Leicester Tigers. Wiese announced he is leaving the English club at the end of the season, and is being linked to a move to French team Stade Francais. Twenty-year-old Beets, who matriculated at Paarl Gymnasium, captured the attention during last year’s Under 20 World Championship in which he scored a try in the third-place play-off against England. He will join Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard at Leicester.

# Tennis: Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep suffered defeat on her return from a doping ban when she lost to Paula Badosa in the Miami Open. The Romanian won the first set, but the Spaniard dug in to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Thirty-two-year-old Halep was playing for the first time in 18 months after her four-year ban was reduced to nine months. In other matches, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki beat France’s Clara Burel 6-1, 6-4, while American Venus Williams was knocked out by Russian Diana Shnaider, 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray of Scotland takes on Italian Matteo Berrettini in the first round today. Berrettini reached his highest world ranking of sixth in January 2022, but a slew of injuries made him fall back to 125th. Murray, who was number one in 2016, is now in 61st position. Popular Japanese player Kei Nishikori makes his return to the tour after a seven-month injury break, taking on Sebastian Ofner of Austria in the round of 128.

# And finally: The International Olympic Committee says Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony at the Paris Games. Athletes from both countries were banned from team sports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine with Belarus’s aid. The decision follows that of the International Paralympic Committee, which also announced a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes for its opening ceremony in August. The IOC expects about 36 neutral athletes with Russian passports and 22 with Belarusian passports to qualify for the Games.

Stay tuned for more news………….