The Pumas strengthened their chances of qualifying for this year’s Currie Cup after beating the Griffons 37-27 in a Vodacom Cup match in Witbank on Thursday. The Pumas scored four tries to move to 32 points on the log, four points ahead of the Leopards, who play the Border Bulldogs in East London on Friday.
Drive into Mamelodi Sundowns’ Midrand headquarters in Chloorkop and the parking lot is crowded with so many luxury cars you would think you had inadvertently ventured into the flashy Detroit or Paris motor shows. It’s going to be even glitzier after the Brazilians virtually clinched the Premier Soccer League title on Wednesday night with a stirring 3-1 win against Classic.
Middlesbrough and Sevilla reached their first Uefa Cup final on Thursday. English club Middlesbrough staged a remarkable comeback at their Riverside Stadium to beat Steaua Bucharest 4-2 and advance 4-3 on aggregate. In Spain, Sevilla needed an extra-time goal from Antonio Puerta to beat 1997 champion Schalke 1-0 on aggregate.
It’s training time on a drizzly morning in the impoverished Brazilian suburb of Los Angeles and 18 footballers huddle in circles. But this is no ordinary Brazilian football team. Nor is the team’s owner — the eccentric 86-year-old leader of the Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Much as Frank Rijkaard and Arsene Wenger will talk of their keen anticipation of the showpiece to come at the Stade de France, the fact is that Barcelona and Arsenal were the best sides in the last four of the Champions League. There are no soft options now.
Inhibition makes you small. If you don’t believe, that’s the worst thing. Go out and be yourself. Those were the choice extracts from Arsene Wenger’s little book of footballing philosophical phrases before he sent Arsenal out for their historic Champions League semifinal second leg at Villarreal’s tiny La Madrigal stadium.
With three rounds remaining in the Super 14, the log has separated itself comfortably into three sections. The loser of this weekend’s South African derby at Loftus between the Bulls and Sharks will join the also-rans. The winner is dependent on the Hurricanes and Brumbies losing at least one of their remaining matches.
Black filmmakers and producers have complained that administrative bungling by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is driving them to financial ruin.
Disgruntled filmmakers say a lack of coordination between the creative hub of the SABC and the financial and legal departments was preventing them from receiving payment for commissioned work.
The redistribution of posts to black people was a dangerous model of transformation, as it pitted blacks against whites and entrenched racial divisions, businessman and political gadfly Moeletsi Mbeki argued recently. Mbeki, the brother of President Thabo Mbeki, has repeatedly raised eyebrows through his criticism of government policies and actions, notably on Zimbabwe
Bloomsbury was a small and well-respected independent publisher — until JK Rowling made it more money than it knows how to spend, writes Matt Seaton.