South Africa scored eight tries in a 53-8 win over Australia in the Tri-Nations on Saturday.
Left winger Jongi Nokwe was just one of a number of stars in the ’Boks side. He scored four tries in just his third match.
While the visitors were first on the board in the sixth minute through a Matt Giteau penalty, the whole first stanza belonged solely to the home side.
PHOTO: AFP
The hosts ran in four splendid tries, three by winger Nokwe and one by towering lock Andries Bekker.
Bekker found his way through the defense in the 10th minute after taking a wonderfully-timed pass from full-back Conrad Jantjes, who started the counterattack by hoisting an up-and-under on the Wallabies and winning the ball back in the air.
Fly-half Butch James converted the try to put South Africa into a 7-3 lead. Just three minutes later, Nokwe got the first of his tries when he went over in the left corner after No 8 Pierre Spies had picked up at the base and broke through the first line of defense.
Then on 26 minutes, Nokwe got his second after his pack had won a tight-head at the scrum. The ball was shifted wide and the winger had the easiest of run-ins for the try. James then added three points with a penalty before Nokwe sealed an outstanding first half for the ’Boks with his third try.
Australia though could have scored early on after Victor Matfield had failed to win a ball in a line-out just 10m out from the line.
The throw in by Bismarck du Plessis went straight into the hands of James Horwill, but he stopped just short of the line and, after a few more lunges at the line by his teammates, the Wallabies eventually turned the ball over.
Winger Lote Tuqiri also bungled a golden chance after 15 minutes when he failed to control a pass on the left touchline with no defenders in front of him. The ’Boks kept up their assault on the Australian defense from the off in the second period and quickly added two further tries to their score.
First, center Adrian Jacobs cut through the Australian midfield after collecting a pass from Jean de Villiers and then he stepped beautifully to beat Peter Hynes to score the fifth five-pointer.
Left winger Nokwe then wrapped up his afternoon’s work with his fourth try when he went looking for work on the right side of the field, took an inside pass from winger Odwa Ndungane and scored to put South Africa 39-3 up. Nokwe left the field shortly afterward with an injury.
The Wallabies pulled a try back before 60 minutes were up when replacement Drew Mitchell went over in the left corner.
The hosts though finished in style, scoring tries seven and eight from replacement Ruan Pienaar and Odwa Ndungane.
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
RSS