The Springboks get their Incoming Series campaign underway against Italy while seeds continue to fall at Wimbledon. Here’s what’s ahead for South African sports lovers this weekend.
Springboks canot underestimate Italy
Regular Springboks skipper Siyamthanda Kolisi is still conspicuous by his absence as the world champions prepare for a clash with the Azzurri at Loftus on Saturday, 5 July at 17:10 CAT. Jesse Kriel will captain the side for the first time in a test, after having the honour against the Barbarians. There’s also a test debut for flanker Vincent Tshituka. Fullback Damian Willemse returns to a star-studded backline. Bongi Mbonambi isn’t underestimating Italy:
“The Italian pack proved what they can do in the Six Nations, and they are a team that believes in their systems and plays with a lot of passion,” said Mbonambi.
“They also have a coach in Gonzalo Quesada who drives that passion. They may have a smaller group of players to choose from compared to South Africa with so few clubs, but they are hard-working players, and we are expecting a tough day at the office.”
The U20 Springboks face England on Friday in Rovigo.
The stars come out to play at Wimbledon
Top seeds continue to tumble out of the tournament and household names are watching it all from the royal box. John Cena, Olivia Rodrigo and Cliff Richard are just three celebrities you might have spotted at Wimbledon this week as the upsets continue to come at SW19. A record total of eight top-10 seeded players dropped out in the first round – the most at any major tournament since the start of the Open era in 1968. The feel-good story of the tournament so far saw 36-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic break home hearts with a stunning win against fourth-seeded Jack Draper. Cilic, the 2014 US Open Champion, was ranked 1095 in the world in July 2024 because of chronic injury issues and now he’s back in the top 100 and in the third round of Wimbledon. Don’t forget, this is a past Grand Slam champion and Wimbledon finalist in 2017.
Alcaraz is gunning for the Wimbledon three-peat
On Friday, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz meets 125th-ranked German Jan-Lennard Struff. On paper, this looks an easy assignment but nothing can be taken for granted at Wimbledon this year. Sasha Zverev and Briton Draper are both out, so it’s hard to see anybody outside of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic lifting the trophy, although Taylor Fritz is looking good. The big-serving American is first up on Friday against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a fascinating clash of styles. That could be the match of the day, that starts at 14:30 CAT.
Women’s World Number One, Aryna Sabalenka, will have to play her opponent and the crowd on centre court when she faces Briton Emma Raducanu in Friday’s final battle.
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Club World Cup reaches the quarter-final stages
The elongated FIFA Club World Cup finally has a last eight. In case you’ve been following, here are the quarter-final fixtures with all kickoff times CAT:
- Fluminense vs Al-Hilal (Friday 4 July, 21:00)
- Palmeiras vs Chelsea (Saturday 5 July, 03:00)
- PSG vs Bayern Munich (Saturday 5 July, 18:00)
- Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund (Saturday 5 July, 22:00)
