Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 12 April 12:30 pm

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

# We start with golf: American Bryson DeChambeau holds a one-shot lead over compatriot Scottie Scheffler after the opening round of the Masters at the Augusta National in Georgia. He finished on seven-under 65 as a storm shortened the first day. Defending champion Jon Rahm of Spain stuttered to an opening-round 73 as he bids to become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods, who was one under with five holes remaining when play was suspended due to bad light. DeChambeau says the conditions were tough:

# Rugby: There are four English teams in the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup this weekend, as well as three French teams and one each from Ireland and South Africa. Bordeaux will host Harlequins, Leinster will welcome La Rochelle, Exeter Chiefs will be in France to face Toulouse and the Bulls are in England to take on Northampton Saints. Bulls’ director of rugby Jake White says it’s a tough task ahead for his team:

The match against Northampton Saints will bring with it a nice windfall for the Bulls. The encounter will be played at a sold-out Franklin Gardens, while the competition’s rules state teams share a 50-percent gate revenue. This means the Pretoria team will be paid about 4.6-million-rand, despite the outcome. Few pundits give the Bulls a fighting chance to win the encounter after having to travel to Europe and get used to totally different playing conditions at short notice.

# Soccer: The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology next season in the hope of reducing the time it takes to make video assistant referee decisions. At a shareholders’ meeting, top-flight clubs unanimously agreed to introduce the system, which is expected to cut the average length of a VAR check for offside by about 30 seconds. World governing body FIFA used semi-automated offside technology at the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar after running a series of trials, including at the Club World Cup.

# And, motorsport: Two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, has signed a contract extension to remain with Aston Martin until at least the end of the 2026 Formula One season. The 42-year-old Spaniard joined the team from Alpine last year, bagging six podium finishes across the first eight races. Team principal Mike Krack says Alonso is hungry for success and is completely dedicated to making the team a competitive force. Aston Martin is currently fifth in the constructors’ standings after the opening four rounds.

Stay tuned for more news………….