This week Gary Lemke has look at rivalries renewed as the Stormers face the Bulls, F1 makes a hasty return, Manchester will become the football capital of the weekend and more!
CAN THE STORMERS BE BULLY BOYS AGAIN?
We’re back into United Rugby Championship mode and the four South African teams in the 16-team competition are all in action, in local derbies. The Bulls are in an interesting position. They have the chance to entrench themselves in the top four on the table, but they come up against a Stormers side who in recent times have always found a way to win against them.
This is the tournament where the Stormers have beaten the Bulls seven times in a row. Eight would be unthinkable – but why not? In the other all-SA clash it’s the Lions hosting the Sharks. Both are in the second half and the Sharks simply need to win to climb off the bottom. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
OPENING GP WILL BE A POINTER FOR 2024
It was this time last year when Max Verstappen led home Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to win the Bahrain GP by 12 seconds. Fernando Alonso was 38sec behind, Carlos Sainz 48sec and Lewis Hamilton 51sec. The rest of the season became a procession for the imperious Dutch driver. He signed off with the most dominant seasons imaginable, winning 19 of the 22 races on the calendar.
While it’s a sign of his brilliance (and a Red Bull car that completes the package), the neutral will be hoping for more competitive racing in 2024. Lewis Hamilton showed up well in practice in his Mercedes, and he will be looking to show he’s got plenty left ahead of his switch to Ferrari.
THREE-YEAR-OLDS LIGHT UP TURFFONTEIN
If it’s another kind of horsepower that gets your motor running then Turffontein is the place to be on Saturday when it’s the second leg of the Triple Crown and Triple Tiara. There are three Grade 1’s (the pinnacle of the sport) and Gimme A Nother is favourite to stay unbeaten in the SA Fillies Classic after looking different class in her first five starts.
You won’t get rich backing her at her odds, but sit back and enjoy. As her trainer Mike de Kock says, “horses like this don’t come around often”. That race is followed shortly by the SA Classic for the colts and geldings and again there’s a hot-pot favourite.
This time it’s Sandringham Summit, who is. widely considered the best three-year-old in the country. The distance (1800m) won’t phase him, but, again, I’d rather watch and appreciate this race than have a punt.
LIV AND GET RICH QUICK IN SAUDI
There are 25 million reasons why golfers will have made sure they got early nights ahead of this week’s round of LIV Golf, which takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The $ 25 million is on the table for prize money for the event, a 54-hole shotgun start, limited field bonanza. The interesting name is Anthony Kim, the American who hasn’t played a tournament for more than a decade.
South Africa’s Stingers are placed 8th on the team table and know that there’s more money to be won. Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester and Branden Grace will be looking to get their hands on some more riches.
CITY LOOK TO BE SLICKER THAN UNITED
A full round of “traditional” English Premier League fixtures awaits this weekend. Six games on Saturday (no lunchtime kickoff), three on Sunday and the one on Monday night. The blockbuster fixture is on Sunday at The Etihad when Manchester City take on cross-city rivals Manchester United.
The wall of red that was so dominant during Sir Alex Ferguson’s era has been replaced by a sea of blue under Pep Guardiola. If the real City turn up it’s hard to expect anything other than a home win. With Liverpool away to Nottingham Forest and Arsenal at Sheffield United, City probably know that their two fiercest title rivals are short-priced to also get their jobs done. United fans might well watch Sunday’s match from behind the sofa
ANOTHER TEST NOT GOING THE DISTANCE
Cricket Tests are increasingly over within the five allotted days and much of that is marked down to the batters not being able to apply themselves as they did previously. They now “see ball and hit ball”, a result of the influence of T20. Australia and New Zealand head into day three, but Australia are already batting again.
They amassed 383 in their first innings and then bowled out the Kiwis for 179. And then they lost two wickets for just 13 runs, to give them a healthy 217-run advantage not even halfway through the match.