Siya Kolisi, became the first black captain of the South African rugby team, the springboks; to lead them to a world cup title.

He led his charges out a the Yokohama International Stadium in Japan where the competition was taking place. In the end, his team thrashed opponents England to win the title for the third time in the country’s history.

The Springboks also join New Zealand as joint-top winners – each with three trophies to their name. South Africa had previously won the trophy in 1995 and 2007.

Throwback photos to when 1995 and 2007 when then presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki received the winning trophy.

South African President Nelson Mandela ® hands over the William Webb Ellis Cup to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar after his team defeated New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final June 24, 1995.

South Africa’s rugby captain John Smith (L) hands their World Cup trophy to President Thabo Mbeki at the Union Building in Pretoria before the Springboks paraded through the streets of Pretoria and Johannesburg October 26,2007.

Match Report

Wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe scored South Africa’s first tries in a World Cup final as the Springboks out-gunned England 32-12 to win the trophy for the third time and reassert the supremacy of the southern hemisphere on Saturday.

Superb game management, set piece dominance, brutal defence and almost flawless place-kicking looked like being enough to see off an England side that had dismantled the double defending champion All Blacks in the semi-finals last week.

Mapimpi has been in prolific form this year, however, and he showed the South Africans can play a bit with ball in hand too when he finished off a try created by his own chip-through in the 66th minute.

Kolbe added the second try eight minutes later, skipping past the tackle of Owen Farrell on the wing and racing away to touch down to the delight of the South Africans in the crowd of 70,103.

Flyhalf Handre Pollard had already given the South Africans a clear lead from six penalties and he added the two conversions to take his match tally to 22.

While tactics were as traditional as the dark green Springbok shirt, the team was far more representative of a multi-racial nation than those of 1995 and 2007 and Siya Kolisi is the first black captain to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

England came into the match with huge expectations after the New Zealand win but only offered flashes of the brilliant all-pitch game which undid the All Blacks last week.

Head coach Eddie Jones, who was in charge of Australia when England won their only World Cup in 2003, becomes the first coach to lose two finals.

Flyhalf Farrell kicked four penalties for England but they were chasing the match all evening and hanging on doggedly trying to contain the rampant Springboks by the end.

The English suffered a huge blow when prop Kyle Sinckler went off with concussion in the third minute leaving their scrum all but uncompetitive against the Springbok pack.

South Africa made the most of the weakness, winning a string of scrum penalties and building a foundation that enabled their wingers to seal the victory in the last 15 minutes.

The Springboks became the first team to lose a pool match at a World Cup and go on to win it, having lost to the All Blacks in their tournament opener at the same Yokohama International Stadium.

Source: Africa News

Lewis Hamilton drove to a near-flawless victory, but not yet a sixth drivers’ world championship on Sunday when he claimed his 10th win of the season for Mercedes at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The defending five-time title-winner produced the measured drive of a champion-elect to claim a well-judged triumph ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who kept his own title bid alive for another week by finishing third.

Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position in the second Ferrari, finished fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon and Max Verstappen, who stormed through the field after an early pit stop, and local hero Sergio Perez of Racing Point.

Daniel Ricciardo came home eighth for Renault ahead of the two Toro Rossos of Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Renault.

Hamilton’s victory was only his second since Formula One’s European summer break in August, his second in Mexico and the 83rd of his career, but it was also Mercedes’ 100th victory in Formula One and extended his run points-scoring finishes to 30 races.

He now looks certain to clinch his sixth title at next weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, where he will need just four points.

“That was for Bono!” said Hamilton on his slow-down lap in reference to his absent race engineer Peter Bonnington.

“Today’s an incredible result and I have to say thank you to our team. We came here on the back foot, but we pulled through.”

After winning his last two titles in Mexico without even finishing on the podium, it was ironic for Hamilton to win but know he has to wait for a sixth coronation.

“I enjoyed it,” said Bottas, who survived a heavy crash in qualifying on Saturday.

“Considering what happened yesterday, it’s a good result… I don’t think we could have done much more.”

Hamilton added: “I don’t mind not winning the title here. I can wait. I just love racing and I am happy to take each race as it comes.”

Four-time champion Vettel said: “It was a long race with no break, but I think Lewis was just cruising for most of his second sting. I’m happy, but we could have had a sharper strategy.”

Source: AFP

Tiger Woods said Monday his fitness was ahead of schedule after arthroscopic knee surgery, and dropped a heavy clue he might use one of his four Presidents Cup captain’s picks on himself.

“I’m probably a week early. My season had ended a little bit earlier than I had expected it,” the 15-time major winner told reporters at Narashino Country Club near Tokyo.

“I had the procedure a little bit early and got ahead of it,” he added.

Woods is in Japan this week to play in the US PGA Tour’s inaugural Zozo Championship, a $9.75 million event that is the second tournament of an almost $30 million Asian swing.

He then intends to round off his year by playing in the Hero World Challenge on December 4, before going to Australia to captain Team USA in the Presidents Cup which begins on December 13.

“I thought that I had enough time to rehab it correctly and be ready for this event, be ready for Hero, and I’m going to Australia either way whether I’m playing or not,” Woods said.

“I had it done and, as I said, it’s been nice to be able to squat down and read putts and I started going at it full speed again.”

Woods, who completed a remarkable return from years of injury and personal problems to win the US Masters in April, said his knee had been giving him more pain as the year wore on.

“It progressively got worse and got to the point where it was affecting even reading putts,” the 43-year-old Woods said.

Woods has a large depth of talent from which to make his four captains picks ahead of the match against Ernie Els’s International team at Royal Melbourne.

He admitted it hasn’t been easy. “I’ve been pretty consumed by it,” he said, adding his return to fitness made it more likely that he would use one of his wildcards on himself.

– ‘Tall order’ –

“It made me more hopeful that I could play this week, play Hero and play Australia,” said Woods, who has dropped one place to number 10 in Monday’s new world rankings.

“The way I was feeling towards the middle part of the year, it was going to be a tall order to be able to do it all.”

If Woods burns one of his picks on himself that leaves him the difficulty of choosing three players from the likes US Open champion, Gary Woodland, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner and Jordan Spieth, who showed a return to form at the CJ Cup in Korea which ended Sunday.

All except newlywed Fowler, who is on honeymoon, are playing in Asia over the next two weeks. Woods has to nominate his side directly after next week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

“I’ve been able to communicate with all the eight (already qualified) guys who they want on the team and who they think that will fit on the team,” he said.

Woods also reiterated he wanted to come back to Japan next year to represent the US at the 2020 Olympics.

“I would love to play in an Olympic Games,” he said.

“Over the years, having friends compete in the Olympics, seeing golf be part of the Olympics, it would be an honour to represent my country in an Olympic Games.

“Hopefully next year I can have a good year and qualify.”

Before all that, however, he was taking part in a Skins Challenge on Monday afternoon against Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama to kick off Zozo Championship week.

Source: AFP

Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar will be out for four weeks with a hamstring injury he suffered playing for Brazil, the French club said on Monday.

Neymar limped off in the 12th minute on Sunday as Brazil drew 1-1 against Nigeria in a friendly in Singapore.

PSG said that an MRI scan showed that their star player had suffered “a grade two lesion” in his left hamstring.

If he is out until November 11, Neymar will miss four French league matches, including a trip to Marseille on October 17, and home and away Champions League games against Bruges.

Source: AFP

Eliud Kipchoge’s historic marathon time on Saturday was greeted with joy and pride in his native Kenya.

“I am happy today because he has won in Kenya and in the world. I thank him so much for this, for me, for Kenya and the world,” said Kipchoge’s mother Janet Rotich who watched in her home village Kapsisiywa as her son became the first man to run the marathon distance in less than two hours.

Kipchoge’s run in Vienna was broadcast live on all Kenya’s television stations.

Even so, in Eldoret, the city 40 kilometres from Kapsisiywa where the 34-year-old runner, his wife and three children live, and in Nairobi, crowds gathered in the early morning to watch the run on giant screens.

In Eldoret, the fans watched in feverish excitement as their champion ticked off the kilometres and exulted when Kipchoge crossed the finish line with a clock displaying 1hr 59 min 40 sec, throwing hats and water bottles into the air.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta quickly issued his “hearty congratulations”.

“You’ve done it, you’ve made history and made Kenya proud while at it. Your win today, will inspire tens of future generations to dream big and to aspire for greatness. We celebrate you and wish you God’s blessings,” President Kenyatta continued.

Kenya’s vice-president William Ruto, who had made the trip to Vienna, sent out a series of tweets.

“A blistering 1.59.40! Congratulations @EliudKipchoge for the historic achievement in shattering the sub-two-hour barrier for the marathon; you are arguably the greatest runner of all time.”

Athletics, along with sevens rugby, is the most successful sport in bringing Kenyans together, regardless of their social or ethnic background.

In Kapsisiywa, Eliud’s older brother, Wilson Sugut, said the run showed what individuals could achieve.

“He told the world that no human being is limited and that he will overcome this two-hour barrier,” he recalled. “People couldn’t believe it, but now we can believe it.”

Source: AFP

After a summer of courtship, with Barcelona wooing Neymar to come back, the Brazilian star and his former club have finally agreed a date — but in court rather than on the pitch.

Both sides will meet at a court in the Barcelona suburbs on Friday for a multi-million-euro legal battle over a contract dispute.

Although a court spokesman said the 27-year-old superstar was obliged to show up person, it was not immediately clear whether he would actually attend.

Barca initially sued Neymar for breach of contract after his shock transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, less than a year after signing a new five-year deal with the Catalan giants.

Worth 222 million euros ($250 million at the time), the transfer remains the highest sum ever paid for a player.

Barcelona are demanding 8.5 million euros in damages plus interest, and have refused to pay Neymar the 26 million euros which were part of his contract renewal bonus signed in 2016.

The Brazilian responded by filing suit against the club over the unpaid bonus, with the two sides set to face off at a labour court on Friday morning.

But his return to the city will be far from the triumphant homecoming the Catalan club had hoped after a summer locked in futile talks with PSG to allow the world’s most expensive player to return.

“Neymar did everything possible (to sign for Barcelona) because it was what he wanted,” Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said earlier this month.

“The deal didn’t go through because the club could not meet PSG’s demands.”

“It’s a closed chapter,” the striker said after making his first appearance with PSG 10 days ago after four months out as he tried to secure a return to Barca. The Paris home crowd booed and jeered him during the 1-0 win against Strasbourg in which he scored the only goal.

– ‘The taxman watching’ –

With the long-running transfer saga over for now, the legal dispute takes centre stage, focusing on the contract renewal bonus that was signed between the player and the club in 2016.

Although the full sum of the bonus has never been clear, Neymar received an initial payout and was to have received the rest in stages over the course of his new contract.

But when he moved to PSG barely a year later, Barcelona refused to pay.

The Spanish club are demanding that he return the part of the bonus he already received as well as 8.5 million euros plus interests in compensation for breach of contract.

Neymar promptly filed a countersuit demanding payment of the 26 million with interest, and also filed a complaint with world footballing body FIFA, which was not taken up.

On Friday morning, the two parties will attend a private half-hour session with the judge in a bid to resolve the dispute before the hearing opens at 10:00 am in a session which is open to the public.

According to El Mundo daily, the case is being closely watched by the Spanish tax authorities who are keen to know whether the superstar, who was a tax resident in 2017, paid his dues on both the bonus and his transfer to PSG.

Neymar’s public relations agency, NR Sports, admitted in March that the tax authorities had requested documents and information relating to the ongoing lawsuit, but insisted that the player was not the subject of a new tax investigation in Spain.

– String of legal woes –

The young striker has been beset by legal problems since his arrival in Europe in 2013 following his move to the Catalan giants from Brazil’s Santos.

Barca valued the transfer at 57.1 million euros but the Spanish judicial authorities estimated it actually amounted to at least 83.3 million, trigging a string of legal cases in both countries, some of which remain unresolved.

And when he transferred to PSG following an obsessive need to emerge from the shadow of Lionel Messi and win the Ballon d’Or, things have not become any easier.

In the last few months, the superstar who has a huge social media following, found himself facing a rape allegation, which was dropped in August, and an assault charge for hitting a fan after PSG’s shock defeat by Rennes in April’s Coupe de France final.

Source: AFP

Veteran football coach Jose Mourinho says Cameroon’s legendary footballer, Samuel Eto’o should have won the prestigious Ballon d’Or at least once in his illustrious career.

The 38-year-old former Barcelona and Inter Milan star retired from football this month, posting on his social media; “The end. Towards a new challenge. Thank you all, big love.”

Mourinho who coached Eto’o at Inter Milan in Italy, and Chelsea in England, told Cameroon Radio, that the country’s all-time record goalscorer ‘was the best striker in the world for several years’.

“It’s difficult to understand how Samuel Eto’o never won the Ballon d’Or with the impressive career he had,’‘ Mourinho said.

“He played three champions league finals, winning two with Barcelona and scoring in both finals. He also won one champions league at Inter and won many league titles.

Eto’o‘s accolades

Gold at the 2000 Olympics
Africa Cup of Nations winner in 2000, 2002
African Player of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010
UEFA Champions League winner in 2005, 2009, 2010

The closest Eto’o came to being crowned the world’s best player was in 2005, when he finished third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Liberian football star and current head of state, George Weah, is the only African player to have been named FIFA World Player of the Year and win the Ballon d’Or.

Source: Africa News

Former Argentine football star Diego Maradona made his debut as new head coach of the team Gimnasia and Esgrima La Plata, also known as ‘The Wolf’ in the city of La Plata on Sunday.

Footage shows the 1986 World Cup-winning captain making his way through a giant wolf mouth onto the field before getting into a caddy car to be driven to meet the players.

Maradona, who until recently was living in Mexico, decided to quit his previous job after having knee surgery, leaving behind a team he led twice to the Ascenso MX finals, the Sinaola Dorados.

Maradona will embark on his sixth club management role, hoping to set the Gimnasia and Esgrima La Plata team straight after several loses.

(Source: Ruptly)