THURSDAY, 9.20AM:
THE Italian national rugby coach George Coste believes that Springbok line-out giants Krynauw Otto and Mark Andrews will be the match winners on Saturday when Italy host South Africa in Bologna.
“We have always had problems at lock. In Italy we don’t have the same height or bulk as South Africa,” said the Frenchman. “Our line-out has been a weakness, and I’m worried that the Springboks could dominate us there.”
Coste has high praise for South Africa, saying: “For Italy it’s a great honour to play the World Cup champions.
“The difference between the two teams overall is the physical presence of the Boks. That’s something which will be hard to match given our comparatively limited resouces.”
SPORT BRIEFS
COETZER THROUGH TO QUARTERSSOUTH AFRICA’S Jeff Coetzer advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITF Central Africa Satellite tennis tournament after beating Wesley Whitehouse 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4 in Gaborone on Wednesday.
SA STUDENTS TO PLAY FRANCE The South African students XV rugby squad to play their French counterparts in Paris on November 21 was named on Wednesday. THE SQUAD:
MJ Smith (UFS), Donovan van Wyk (Pentech), Kaya Molotana (East London Technical College), Jorrie Kruger (UFS), Johan Schutte (UP), Jannie van der Walt (RAU), Tim Iraka (Rhodes), Kholekile Ralo (Pta Tech), Dave van Hoesslin (US), Louis Koen (US, v/c). Owen Nkumane (Wits), Ian Brown (RAU), Gustav Japhta (UP), Pierre Ribbens (UP, capt), Johan van Wyk (US), John Williams (UP), Piet Boer (UP), Janus Labuschagne (RAU), Selborne Boome (US), Gerhard Laufs (UP), Charl van Rensburg (UFS).
FRITZ CLEARED SPRINGBOK lock Fritz van Heerden has been cleared to play for English club Leicester by the South African Rugby Football Union. Sarfu CEO Rian Oberholzer said: “Although we would like to persuade our players not to leave this country, we decided that by imposing the 180-day period we would only hurt Fritz.” Sarfu had contemplated imposing the restriction permitted in International Rugby Board regulations, to discourage players from accepting lucrative contracts from overseas clubs.
WAPNICK BEAT KHAN SOUTH AFRICA’S Craig Wapnick beat Pakistan’s Zubair Khan 17-15 15-7 15-10 in the first round of the men’s World Open squash in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, causing the biggest upset of the tournament.