With hopes of a third Tri-Nations title all but gone, South Africa will be looking to restore pride when they clash with Australia in Durban today, the first of two back-to-back Tests today.
Surprise winners in Dunedin against New Zealand just over a month ago, South Africa have lost touch with their Australasian rivals after suffering defeats in Perth and Cape Town, leaving them on just five points from four matches.
New Zealand, 19-0 winners against the Springboks in Cape Town last weekend, top the competition log with 14 points from five matches. Australia are second with nine points from three matches.
A second consecutive victory over the ’Boks’ by Australia this weekend would boost their chances of winning this year’s competition and provide a confidence boost ahead of their trip to Johannesburg next week. Then it is off to Brisbane to take on the All Blacks in what is looking like a title decider.
But, while confident after an impressive competition start under new coach Robbie Deans, Australia will know they have a far from flattering history in the republic. The Wallabies haven’t won in South Africa since 2000 and on top of that, South Africa will be keen to exact revenge on their opponents who beat the ’Boks comfortably in Perth on July 19.
Also, the ’Boks will want to silence their critics following last weekend’s heavy defeat to the All Blacks.
The last time the teams met, Australia won 16-9, but since that day, Deans’ team have won once (34-19 over New Zealand) and lost once (39-10, also to New Zealand) so the visitors will also be looking to bounce back after defeat.
With three games still to play, Deans’ team are in a very favorable position to win the title and that motivation alone should see them up the ante today. On top of that, Deans has been able to recall fit-again flanker Rocky Elsom as well as lock Daniel Vickermann to his starting side.
His opposite, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, has not been so fortunate. The ’Boks will be without key second row Bakkies Botha and wing Bryan Habana, who’re both injured, while regular captain John Smit is still out of action. De Villiers has handed rookie winger Jongi Nokwe just his second Test start in place of Habana on the wing, while Andries Bekker will join captain Victor Matfield in the second row.
But it is not in the scrumming or lineout departments where the ’Boks are in need of a step-up this week, but at the breakdowns. Elsom and George Smith had a field-day against the ’Boks in Perth, stealing plenty of ball, while in Cape Town a week ago, Richie McCaw, too, showed just why he is rated the world’s best openside flank when he forced a number of turn-overs for his team.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier