■ South Africa
Burger set for comeback
South Africa flanker Schalk Burger makes his comeback from a severe neck injury when he plays for the Stormers in a Super 14 warm-up this weekend. Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe has named the 23-year-old in his team to face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday. Burger, the 2004 world player of the year, needed a neck operation after being injured in the second Test against Scotland in June. In his absence, the Springboks lost their next five matches and only won five games the entire year. "Schalk has been working very hard and his recovery has been pleasing," Van der Merwe told the Cape Times.
■ Scotland
Mike Blair injured
Scotland scrumhalf Mike Blair will miss the start of the Six Nations campaign with a shoulder injury that will keep him out for up to two months. Blair suffered the injury in Edinburgh's win over Llanelli Scarlets in the Magners League last Friday and tests on Tuesday revealed the seriousness of the ligament damage, the official Six Nations Web site (www.rbs6nations.com) said. He looks sure to miss Scotland's first two games against England on Feb. 3 and Wales a week later while their third game, against Italy on Feb. 24 may also come too soon. Blair's main rival for the No. 9 shirt, Chris Cusiter, is also out with a shoulder problem.
■ New Zealand
Somerville to miss Super 14
All Black and Canterbury Crusaders prop Greg Somerville will miss the Super 14 competition and is doubtful for the All Blacks' initial Tests this year after an achilles tendon operation, a report said yesterday. Somerville snapped the tendon while played for the All Blacks against South Africa in August. He was operated on in September but the discovery of a cyst on the tendon last month required a second operation, All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson told The Press. Robinson said 29-year-old Somerville would need up to six months to recover. But Crusaders coach Robbie Deans said he was confident the 55-Test veteran would be fit for Test selection later in the year.
■ Australia
Chris Latham determined
Wallaby fullback Chris Latham remains confident of playing at the Rugby World Cup in France later this year after confirmation yesterday that he will undergo knee reconstruction on Saturday. Australian rugby's outstanding player last year tore both his anterior cruciate and medial ligaments at Queensland Reds training last weekend and he is expected to miss the entire Super 14 provincial series. Queensland Reds medical staff yesterday said his recovery was likely to take six months. "We suspect it is a high grade tear, but if there are still some fibres attached we may leave it to repair itself, otherwise we will intervene to reattach the ligament," a Queensland Reds spokesperson said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later