The Hurricanes Super 12 rugby campaign has got off to a disastrous start. On a weekend when New Zealand rugby was again given a bloody nose, with the Blues losing to the Brumbies, and Crusaders thumped by the Waratahs, the Hurricanes fared the worst.

Mmbatho-Kaizer Chiefs title hopes suffered a minor hiccup when Jomo Cosmos forced a spirited second half fightback to snatch a 1-1 draw against the title chasing Amakhosi in a hard fought Castle Premiership clash at the Mmbatho stadium on Sunday. There was no score at halftime.

Herschelle Gibbs got his cake on Monday and ate it too with an ominous warning for the New Zealand cricket bowlers. The prolific South Africa opening batsman turned 30 to a special dressing-room candle-blowing ceremony at Carisbrook on Monday, prompting his captain, Graeme Smith, to quip: ”I can’t believe he’s 30.”

Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher threatened to leave BMW Williams on Sunday, unhappy with contract negotiations. ”I don’t have any understanding for some of the things that have happened in the past few months,” Schumacher told the weekly Bild am Sonntag in Germany.

Sundowns and Dynamos played to a boring 1-1 draw at Odi Stadium on Saturday. This game, played in front of a poor crowd, did not have any major highlights as the two teams struggled to hit top form and produce top-class entertainment. Sundowns took the lead in the 41st minute.

The South African Rugby Players Association has hit back after a media report portrayed their members as greedy. Sarpa’s Piet Heymans was responding to a front page article in the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport in which SA Rugby Football Union’s new president Brian van Rooyen lashed out at players who complained about money.