MONDAY, 12.50AM:
GAUTENG Lions captalised on the poor kicking of Mpumalanga Pumas to win their Currie Cup match 27-26 on Sunday. Mpumalanga squandered 12 extra first-half points through missed kicks at goals.
Lions scrumhalf Johan Roux saved his team after by scoring two tries, converting two of them and converting two penalties for a personal tally of 20 points. Disappointed captain and scrumhalf Dan Van Zyl said: “We lost concentration. It probably shows a lack of experience.”
Despite winning, Gauteng Lions had little to be happy about. They were rattled for the first 20 minutes, gave away tries to the Pumas, and their passing and handling mistakles grew worse in the backline.
The day was made worse because of injuries to Hennie le Roux and Dawie du Toit. The Lions took four points for winning but did not gain the extra bonus points awarded for four tries.
SPORT BRIEFS
AMAZULU GET NEW COACH AMAZULU have signed up Ben Bamfuchilwe, who coached Swazi champions Eleven Men in Flight last season. Bamfuchilwe is described as one of Africa’s most respected coaches.
Meanwhile Supersport United have signed former Leeds United and Wits University goalkeeper Paul Evans.
U21s WIN SOUTH AFRICA’S under-21 rugby team beat a Western Australia senior team 44-18 at Perry Lakes Park on Sunday. This was in preparation for the southern hemisphere tournament in Sydney, which starts later this week. The South Africans will play against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
HERBERT HURDLES AHEAD SOUTH AFRICAN Llewellyn Herbert clocked a world class 47,99 seconds to win the 400m hurdles in Stuttgart on Sunday. Herbert stunned American Brian Bronson when he came from behind to make his own national record. Bronson finished second after he was edged by Herbert in the final hurdle.
NAMIBIA LOSES CAMEROON beat Namibia 1-0 in Windhoek at the weekend, to lead Group 5 of the African Cup of Nations with six points. Namibia and Kenya follow on four points with Gabon trailing at three.
NIGERIAN DISQUALIFIED BOXING suffered another setback on Saturday when Nigerian boxer Henry Akinwade was disqualified for holding his opponent Lennox Lewis during their World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title fight in South Lake Tahoe, US. Referee Mills Lane — the same man who disqualified Mike Tyson two weeks ago — disqualified Akinwande in the fifth round for continuously holding on to Lewis.