The Springboks and coach Rassie Erasmus also picked up awards at a prize-giving function in Cape Town. Two-time World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe has joined the illustrious list of players to be named SA Rugby Player of the Year. The speedy winger picked up the award, for the 2024 season, at a function in Cape Town on Thursday night, beating fellow Springbok nominees Pieter-Steph du Toit, Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth and Ox Nche to the trophy. Du Toit was last year named World Rugby Player of the Year for his stellar performances for the Boks in 2024. ‘Thank you for believing in me’ Kolbe is the first backline player to win the award since Jean de Villiers won in 2013. “It’s massive … I need to pinch myself,” said
Category Archives: SPORTS
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Manchester United’s Portuguese midfielder #08 Bruno Fernandes (L) celebrates scoring the team’s second goal from the penalty spot during the UEFA Europa League Last 16 Second Leg football match between Manchester United and Real Sociedad at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, north west England, on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP) Bruno Fernandes led Manchester United into the Europa League quarter-finals with a hat-trick to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday and 5-2 on aggregate. The first three goals on the night came via the penalty spot as Mikel Oyarzabal had slotted Sociedad into an early lead. However, Fernandes quickly restored parity and coolly scored again from the spot on 50 minutes. The Portuguese international then ensured United will face Lyon in the last
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The superfight Aussie footy fans are dying to see is FINALLY on the verge of becoming reality as Paul Gallen closes in on showdown with Sonny Bill Wiliams One of Australian sport’s most anticipated boxing matches is back on Paul Gallen and Sonny Bill Williams are currently in advanced talks By JAMES COONEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 00:44 EDT, 13 March 2025 | Updated: 00:44 EDT, 13 March 2025 After more than a decade of anticipation, heated exchanges and stalled negotiations, a showdown between Paul Gallen and Sonny Bill Williams is now closer than ever before. NRL legend Paul Gallen and cross-code superstar Sonny Bill Williams are set to pocket more than a million dollars in the heavyweight showdown planned for 2025, with current aims for the fight to
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Smriti Mandhana had a poor WPL 2025, both as captain of a team that didn’t make the knockouts and as a batter with mediocre returns. WPL winners in 2024, RCB finished second-last this time, just above UP Warriorz, and that too on net run-rate. Mandhana’s demeanour at her final press conference of this season after an 11-run win against against Mumbai Indians, however, gave us a wise and pragmatic captain who had ended on a high, and not a sullen leader after a disappointing season. She became slightly philosophical, too, almost summoning the cricketing gods as she rued her team’s failure to clinched some of the crucial moments. “Yeah, we were just having a joke post the match that we started the season on a high, ended it on a
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73956824/2199925365.0.jpg?w=1000&resize=1000,500 "7 college basketball freshmen ready to ball in womens March Madness bracket, ranked")
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March is when stars are born. It’s when players are asked to step up in crucial moments, when they attempt the improbable and pull off the seemingly impossible. In basketball, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than March Madness. It feels like we see a few freshmen really break out during the NCAA Tournament every season. Last year was no exception. We watched JuJu Watkins scored 30 points in a Sweet 16 win over Baylor, we saw Hannah Hidalgo stuff the stat sheet in a second round victory over Ole Miss, and we were astonished by Audi Crooks’ record-setting performance – 40 points on 18-of-20 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds – in an unlikely triumph over Maryland. This March, we have more stellar rookies to pay attention to.
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It was a quieter day on the news front, with the rush of initial signings slowing down as teams take stock from a busy Monday. We still had plenty of signings and a few trades, and more movement is still to come. Now that we have a moment to breathe, we can take a step back and evaluate teams more holistically. After the first day, it can be tough to label quiet teams as “losers” when they could have easily made a slew of additions today. After the second day, however, we get a better picture of what teams are doing successfully and where they’ve fallen short. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the second day of free agency: Winner: Vikings QB
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Georgia Bulldogs guard Silas Demary Jr. (5) drives the ball on Auburn Tigers guard Tahaad Pettiford (0) as Auburn Tigers take on Georgia Bulldogs at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. Auburn Tigers lead Georgia Bulldogs 29-24 at halftime. There is plenty on the line for both Georgia and Oklahoma when the pair square off in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. For the Bulldogs (20-11), the No. 11 seed in the tournament going against the No. 14 Sooners (19-12), an NCAA Tournament berth appears secure. Georgia is mainly battling to improve its tournament position, as it is expected to make the program’s first appearance since 2015 and just its fourth in the last 23 years. Bulldogs coach Mike White
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Another back injury for Jasprit Bumrah in the same spot where he had surgery “could be a career-ender” according to former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, whose career ended prematurely due to chronic back problems. Bumrah has not played since he walked off for scans on the second afternoon of the New Year’s Test in Sydney this year. What was reported as back spasms then turned to be a stress-related injury, which forced him to miss the Champions Trophy. Bumrah is currently at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru doing rehab and there is no clarity yet on when he will be fully fit or whether he will start for Mumbai Indians (MI) at IPL 2025. This is the first time Bumrah has suffered a back injury since
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Paris Saint-Germain’s Italian goalkeeper #01 Gianluigi Donnarumma stops the penalty shot by Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker #09 Darwin Nunez (L) during the last 16 second leg UEFA Champions League football match between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP) Paris Saint-Germain progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday after beating Liverpool 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out to win an epic last-16 tie between the clubs. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in Paris, PSG levelled the tie on aggregate thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s early strike at Anfield. There were plenty of chances but no further goals at the end of 90 minutes or extra time, taking the tie to a shoot-out. READ
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Feb 15, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies forward Tobi Lawal (1) works against Virginia Cavaliers forward Blake Buchanan (0) during the second half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images Cal and Virginia Tech have struggled down the stretch, yet one of them will claim at least a second game in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The teams meet in the first round Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (13-18) has lost two in a row and three of its last four, including Saturday’s 65-47 setback at then-No. 11 Clemson. Tuesday’s winner meets No. 7 seed Stanford on Wednesday night. “Let’s go play well,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “Won at Cal earlier in the year.” No. 15 seed Cal (13-18) has
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News Part of the reasoning was that it will help maximise crowd attendance to the match in Australia and boost global TV ratings The two teams first played a Test in 1877 • Getty Images Cricket Australia have announced that the one-off Test to be played between Australia and England at the MCG in March 2027 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of men’s Test cricket with a pink-ball day-night match. Two years out from the match, which is scheduled for March 11-15 to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Test match ever played at the venue between Australia and England in 1877, it was announced that the match would be a day-night fixture. It will mirror the recent women’s Ashes Test that was a day-night pink-ball match at the MCG in
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READ MORE: WNBA star Angel Reese blasts Delta over Toronto crash offer By JAKE NISSE Published: 23:54 EST, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 01:17 EST, 8 March 2025 Angel Reese has threatened to boycott WNBA games if the league does not meet players’ demands for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, as the Chicago Sky forward continued to complain about her salary. Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie scale contract ahead of her first pro season, and is set to make just under $75,000 in 2025, according to Spotrac. And while WNBA players are set to negotiate a new CBA after the players’ union opted out of the current one in October (it still runs through October 31, 2025), Reese said on her ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast that players could skip games if
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Feb 27, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) reacts to a goal against the Minnesota Wild during the third period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Well, finally, we’re off the schneid with that over victory last night on the basketball court. Now we transition back to the coolest game on earth with an over/under call on the matchup between the Utah Hockey Club and the Chicago Blackhawks. Interestingly, these two Central Division rivals just engaged in a last-second minor trade before today’s deadline. In exchange for dealing a fifth-round pick to Utah, the Blackhawks acquired a couple of youngsters and retired defenseman Shea Weber’s contract. Chicago also made a move earlier in the day, shipping out former starting goalie Petr
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Success in shooting requires steady hands, steely focus and the ability to block out all external distractions – but what about internal ones? For two-time English champion Ruth Mwandumba we are not talking about feeling peckish, or a little poorly; rather pregnancy and the prospect of being kicked by not only one or two feet at a time, but potentially four, and as many arms. “Twins, yeah, a massive shock,” said the smiling GB athlete, who is competing at the European Rifle Shooting Championships while six months pregnant. “It’s definitely a strange one [to compete] and not a normal thing people do! “I’ve had some rough training sessions ahead of the Europeans and some days where every shot felt like I was climbing Mount Everest because I was in so
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25893511/Screenshot_2025_03_01_at_6.27.26_PM.png?w=1000&resize=1000,500 "Sun Belt Tournament 2025: Bracket, schedule, scores, teams, and more")
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The Sun Belt Conference tournament is back. And so is the format known as “The Gauntlet.” Four teams tied atop the Sun Belt standings this season with matching 13-5 records in conference play — South Alabama, James Madison, Troy, and Arkansas State — and those four teams have earned byes into deep in the tournament. South Alabama enters as the No. 1 seed in the conference, as they were undefeated against the other three teams this season to secure the tiebreaker advantage. The Jaguars were 2-0 this season against Arkansas State, and notched wins over both Marshall and James Madison. Alabama State, courtesy of the top seed, earned a bye to the Sun Belt semifinals. The Duke entered last weekend with a chance to clinch the conference title and No.