Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 24 April 12:30 pm

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

# We start with rugby: Two-time World Cup winner, Steven Kitshoff, might not recover in time for the Springboks’ Test series against Six Nations champions Ireland in July. He suffered a knee injury during Ulster’s Challenge Cup quarterfinal loss to Clermont, and has been ruled out of the remainder of the United Rugby Championship campaign. The 32-year-old prop has returned to South Africa to visit a knee specialist. Kitshoff will return to the Stormers next season.

Meanwhile, rumours are winger Cheslin Kolbe could be entrusted with the Springboks’ number ten jersey when the world champions play Wales at Twickenham on the 22nd of June. The match falls outside the official Test window, meaning players based in Britain, Ireland and France won’t be available. This will keep flyhalves Handré Pollard and Manie Libbok out of contention. Kolbe was the back-up scrumhalf in the World Cup final against the All Blacks, and he and number nine Faf de Klerk both have prior experience at flyhalf.

And more rugby news, the game is currently trialling a new brain-cooling treatment for concussion relating to sport. This is the first acute treatment which can be delivered along the field. Six clubs in the United Rugby Championship, including Edinburgh, are currently using the so-called PolarCap. It delivers targeted cooling to the head and neck between 45 minutes and an hour after a player suffered a concussion. BBC Sport reports Edinburgh’s team doctor, Michael Dunlop, says the metabolic dysfunction happening in a concussion is worse at higher body temperature.

# Tennis: Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is set to play in his first clay-court tournament of the season in his country’s capital. The Madrid Open starts today, with the world number three having a bye. His first match should be in the second round on Friday. Alcaraz, who won the tournament the past two years, missed Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to injury, but believes he should be fit this week. He hopes for a final against his famous compatriot, Rafael Nadal, who is also struggling to regain full fitness.

# And finally: The Cape Peninsula University of Technology will confer an honorary doctorate to Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis, tomorrow. She is the most successful coach in the history of South Africa’s women’s soccer team, having led the team to their maiden Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022. Under her leadership, the team also qualified for back-to-back Women’s World Cups. CPUT says Ellis will be recognised for her significant achievements which have positioned her at the top of the African and global sport fraternity.

Stay tuned for more news………….