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GARY LEMKE’S WRAP: Amazing weekend for SA sports, Premier League goal glut continues and more!

Gary Lemke looks back at what was a spectacular sporting weekend for South Africa as Driccus du Plessis was crowned UFC Middleweght Champion, Bafana won 4-0 and more!
Themba Zwane and Percy Tau of Bafana
Image: Mehrez Toujani/BackpagePix

Gary Lemke looks back at what was a spectacular sporting weekend for South Africa as Driccus du Plessis was crowned UFC Middleweght Champion, Bafana won 4-0 and more!

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

DU PLESSIS DELIVERS ON PROMISE

Dricus du Plessis confirmed what we all knew but now the world does too – that he’s a one-man wrecking ball and the baddest man on the planet in the UFC in the 84kg middleweight division.

The South African won a tight 48-47 (twice) and 47-48 split decision after five bloody rounds to rip the belt off champion Sean Strickland in Toronto.

The first round had gone the champion’s way, marking up the challenger with a ramrod left jab. The second, third and fourth rounds were all edged by the South African on my card, before Strickland finished strongly and took the last.

It was a good, absorbing fight, though neither Du Plessis nor Strickland ever looked in any danger of being stopped. At the end both warriors paid tribute to one another after an acrimonious build-up, having earned mutual respect where it counts most.

UFC GIVES BLACK EYE TO BOXING IN SA

The build-up and reaction to Dricus du Plessis’ victory was confirmation of the shift in power in South Africa from boxing to MMA. There was a time when South Africans would either burn the midnight oil, or wake up in the early hours to watch the likes of Gerrie Coetzee, Brian Mitchell, Welcome Ncita, Vuyani Bungu and Baby Jake Matlala fight for world titles.

No more, and it’s a black eye for boxing, especially for Boxing SA, that the sport has been allowed to decay as much as it has done in recent years given the wealth of talent that lies untapped.

PREMIER LEAGUE CONTINUES TO SEE GOALS FLY IN

Despite the truncated round of matches in the Premier League this weekend there were the usual wild results. Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Crystal Palace was the fifth such scoreline this season, the same number as the 0-0 draw.

There were also five goals when Brentford got back on the winning trail by beating Nottingham Forest 3-2. In Sunday’s two games there were four goals in each – Sheffield United and West Ham drawing 2-2 and Liverpool battering Bournemouth 4-0 away. That made it 18 goals in just four games ahead of Monday night’s Brighton vs Wolves showdown.

FARCE IN PARIS BUT STORMERS TAKE THE ‘W’

The two South African representatives in the Investec European Rugby Champions Cup both got a “W” in the results column, both against French opposition. At Loftus the Bulls saw off Bordeaux 46-40, but the real drama came in Paris where the Stormers came through 24-20.

The final minutes descended into chaos when the hosts were reduced to 13 men with uncontested scrums. However, the officials ran out of fingers and toes to count in applying the laws, before Stade Francais conceded a penalty for having 13 men on the field and not 12.

The end result sees the Stormers host La Rochelle in a Last 16 match in Cape Town in April. The Bulls are also through, and will host Lyon. In the Challenge Cup, the Sharks, Lions and Cheetahs are also into the next stage.

PAARL AND DURBAN STILL SHOW THE WAY

Daily matches continue in the SA20 and the number of one-handed catches in the crowd climbed to three, all qualifying for a split of the R2 million on offer from the bookmaker sponsors. The Paarl Royals and Durban’s Super Giants continue to be the form sides, which makes Friday’s match between the two a highlight for the week.

In terms of the form players, MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton (342) has most runs, while Lungi Ngidi of Paarl Royals has taken most wickets (10). There have been three centuries scored (Jordan Hermann, Rassie van der Dussen and Will Jacks), while for those interested, the most sixes have come off the bat of Rickelton (25), with Heinrich Klaasen bludgeoning 14.

TWO AFCON TEAMS WITH 100% RECORDS

There have been some eye-popping results in football’s continental showpiece, AFCON 2023, but for Bafana Bafana fans staying up late on Sunday night was worth it as they swamped Nambia 4-0.

That allowed the 1996 champions to get back into contention for the playoffs, but there are still plenty of twists and turns ahead. Our pre-event selection, Senegal, are one of only two of 24 teams to have won both their matches so far. The other? Cape Verde, who lead a group that includes Egypt and Ghana.

TEENAGER FLYING SA FLAG IN KOREA

Sixteen-year-old Lara Markthaler is South Africa’s sole representative at the Youth Winter Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea and she started her competition by placing 33rd out of 56 competitors in the women’s Super-G slalom event.

She was one of only six competitors in the event from the southern hemisphere. While parts of South Africa bake in the summer heat, the temperature in Gangwon is forecast to reach a maximum of -11 deg C early in the week!

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