After ten months of weekly action at various levels on the rugby field, the 2014 season eventually come to an end for South African rugby lovers this weekend.
Rugby
After a week of many developments, the Springboks run onto the field for the last time this year in Cardiff on Saturday night to play against a tough Wales team.
Welsh coach Warren Gatland made three changes to his side to face the Springboks. Gethin Jenkins (prop), Scott Baldwin (hooker) and Liam Williams (wing) all coming into the starting XV.
Jenkins and Baldwin will link up with Samson Lee to form the same front-row that started the clash against Fiji a fortnight ago. The rest of the pack remains unchanged from last weekend’s game against world champions New Zealand.
Heyneke Meyer made eight changes to his team for this match. Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Willie le Roux, Cornal Hendricks and Lwazi Mvovo are all back in the Springbok starting line-up. Most of the changes were made because European-based players who started in last weekend’s victory over Italy in Padova, are not available this week because of club commitments in European leagues.
The Springboks need to win this test if they want to call the European tour a success in any way.
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Cricket
The tragic events surrounding the death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes continue to dominate news about the sport, but in the meantime the game continues and there is much cricket action to look forward to this weekend.
While the Proteas are on the way back to South Africa, tail between its legs after their series defeat in five one-day matches against Australia, local cricket fans can at least look forward to the tour of the West Indians, which will start soon.
Meanwhile the national women’s team play India on Sunday in Bangalore in a one-off T20 game.
The Ram Slam T20 competition will also continue this weekend with matches on Friday and Sunday. On Friday the Knights will host the Dolphins in Kimberley, the Lions and the Titans play against each other in Potchefstroom, while the Warriors and the Cape Cobras will meet in Port Elizabeth.
On Sunday there will be two matches in Bloemfontein. Firstly the Dolphins play against the Knights, followed by the Warriors and Titans game. The Cape Cobras and the Warriors play each other again on Sunday, but this time in Paarl.
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Road Running
Although the end of the year is approaching fast, the long-winded athletes who remain faithful to their exercise programme still have an opportunity to participate in an official race. The Eagles Muller Potgieter Fun Run is a 15km race at the Voortrekker Monument. It will take place on Saturday morning and the starting time is at 06:00.
The race, however, also provides for everyone who wants to burn a bit of fat one last time before the holidays start. There is also a 10km race and a 5km fun run in which less serious athletes could participate.
Enquiries: Henning Strauss on 071-405-5588.
Soccer
South African soccer fans’ attention will be in Soweto this weekend where SuperSport United and Platinum Stars will face each other in the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the final of the Telkom Knockout series.
This game is especially important for Supersport United coach Gordon Ingesund. Following his controversial dismissal as coach of Bafana Bafana, Ingesund again proved that he is indeed a good coach.
Ingesund took the team over from Cavin Johnson at the start of September and immediately installed a winning mentality at the club. After just three months he helped them to reach the TKO final.
SuperSport United has never won the Telkom Knockout Cup. They have reached two finals (2004 and 2005), but lost both opportunities. Ingesund is, however, a man who knows how to win finals and the spirit in the team’s camp was very positive this week.
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