Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 15 October 12:30 pm

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

# First, we look at rugby: All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has made eight changes to his match-day 23 for Saturday’s second Bledisloe Cup Test against the Wallabies in Sydney. George Bower moves from the bench to start at loosehead prop, and lock Fabian Holland joins Scott Barrett in the second row. Josh Moorby, who came off the bench in the victory at Eden Park, starts on the left wing. Samisoni Taukei’aho, Xavier Numia, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Cortez Ratima and Timoci Tavatavanawai are on the bench.

Other rugby: A new rule in the Champions Cup means an attacking bonus point will only be earned if a team scores three or more tries more than its opponents. It was previously awarded for scoring four tries or more. The governing body says this will hopefully encourage teams to maintain high standards for the full 80 minutes. The Stormers play Bristol Bears in the opening round in Cape Town this weekend, the Bulls face Stade Francais at Loftus and the Lions are away to La Rochelle in France.

# Cricket: Former Proteas captain and fast bowler Shaun Pollock says umpires must be empowered to switch from a red to a pink ball to keep play going. In the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban, bad light stopped play early on the first three days. A pink ball can be used provided both teams agree before the start of the match. Pollock lashed out over the stigma attached to the pink ball:

More cricket: England decided to rest some players ahead of the Test series in South Africa, and they won’t take part in next month’s white-ball tour of Australia. The tour, starting on the 13th of November, will consist of three one-day matches and five T20s. It ends on 2 December, only a week before England’s warm-up match in South Africa before the start of the three-Test series against the Proteas. Thomas Rew and Eddie Jack can play their first matches for England in Australia.

# And tennis: American Ann Li secured her biggest win to date by defeating three-time champion Aryna Sabalenka at the Wuhan Open. The Belarusian fought off nine match points before 31st-ranked Li finally sealed victory to reach the last 16. American second seed Jessica Pegula was beaten by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, while Czech Karolina Muchova fought back to defeat American qualifier Caty McNally. Britain’s Sonay Kartal knocked out world number 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Stay tuned for more news………….