International weekend to forget for SA sport

Quo Vadis Proteas... losing to the Netherland in a decider for a place in the semifinals of the T20 Cricket World Cup was damaging for South Africa.

It was a weekend to forget for South Africa as far as international sport is concerned.

First on the chopping block on Saturday were the rugby side the Springboks losing 19-16 to Ireland in Dublin. It was intense, high pressure game which the Boks could have won had their goalkicking was on point on the evening. There were two or three clumsy moments by the South Africans and such errors were bound to be punished as the Irish are not just a decent rugby but the No 1 Test team right now.

There were times when the Springboks were never unflustered by big occasions far away from home and that's what the characteristic the team must retrace to command respect again.

To say 19-16 loss to the team rated top is no consolation because the current ranking does not make any team invincible. We should have won in Dublin.

Sunday was double heartbreak and very early on the day that many South Africans did not witness the disgrace of our national cricket team Proteas coming short against the Netherlands in the T20 Cricket World Cup.

Ahead of the tussle in Adelaide, Australia, all South Africa needed was a win of any kind against the Dutch and proceed to the semifinals. In all fairness, losing is part of the game but conceding such an important defeat to a low ranking side such as Netherlands is unforgivable. Painful. I won't say more.

Later on on Sunday morning it was the Soweto Marathon time. The last time a South African male won this most prestigious standard marathon (42.2km) in South Africa was back in 2011.

On Sunday the marathon was returning to action after two years of Covid-19 induced break. It would appear when we were masking and isolating, the Ethiopian runners were busy preparing for the big prize.

For the record, Ethiopia took first two positions in the men's race, with the third position going to a Lesotho runner. The first South African to cross the line was in 5th position.

The women's race a podium clean sweep by Ethiopia, as three ladies from the Horn of Africa took the honours.

The first local woman home was in 9th spot.

Comments

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