Gary Lemke looks back at a jam-packed sporting weekend as the Blitzboks were crowned HSBS SVNS World Champions, while Oscar Piastri clinched a third successive and a fourth from the first six wins on the 2025 racing calendar.
BLITZBOKS IN SEVENS HEAVEN IN LA
South Africa’s rugby fraternity woke to the news on Monday that the Blitzboks had been crowned HSBS SVNS World Champions, after going unbeaten at the season-ending tournament in Los Angeles.
One could debate whether the win means that they are the best team in the world after all, they finished fourth in the regular season series – but such is the nature of the Sevens game that you have to have a ticket to win it, and that’s what the Blitzboks did, in style.
They went unbeaten in LA, having seen off France, Great Britain, Argentina and New Zealand, before downing Spain 19-5 in the final. It was the fifth such world championship title in South Africa’s history.
Celebrations in LA 🥳#Blitzboks #PoweredByUnity #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/rHxa8HZ5pQ
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 5, 2025
PIASTRI TAKES VICE GRIP AFTER MIAMI WIN
Another win for Oscar Piastri, a third in succession and a fourth from the first six races on the 2025 calendar, will add to the opinion that it is him, and not teammate Lando Norris, who is the leading McLaren driver on this year’s grid.
Although world champion Max Verstappen had claimed pole for the Miami GP, it was the McLarens who proved slickest in the race, producing another 1-2 and putting daylight between themselves and third-placed George Russell in his Mercedes.
Piastri now leads the drivers standings by 16 points – there are 25 points for a win – with Verstappen a further 16 points behind Norris. A talking point from the race was Lewis Hamilton’s spat with his own Ferrari team, with the driver twice not responding to instructions.
‘PASSIVE’ LIVERPOOL GIVE CHELSEA BOOST
Some suggested that Liverpool rolled over and let Chelsea boss them in their 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, with the English Premier League title already secured a week before.
Others also suggested that Manchester United gave up long before a ball was kicked in their 4-3 defeat at Brentford, knowing there’s nothing left to play for in the League and everything left in the Europa League.
If either applies, shame on the players and staff for not “pitching up” with anything other than winning on their minds. They are pampered multi-millionaires, while the fans that follow them aren’t charged less to watch them because “there’s nothing to play for”. The upshot, though, suited Chelsea, who will be in the top five with three games left, whatever happens on Monday between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
SAINTS STUN LEINSTER IN HUGE UPSET
They’re already placing it in the list of rugby upsets alongside Japan beating the Springboks in 2015. It’s not quite the same comparing club and country, but the emotion is still raw, and Northampton’s seismic 37-34 win over Leinster in the Investec European Champions Cup is a shock whichever way you see it.
A full-strength Leinster, at home, coming off the back of whitewashing Harlequins (62-0) and Glasgow Warriors (52-0) in the Last 16 and quarter-finals, losing to an inspired Saints who now play Bordeaux Begles in the final. Wow.
South African bragging rights belong to Jarno Augustus, who is on the way to the final. Jacques Nienaber and RG Snyman meanwhile, have this time fallen on the wrong side of a close knockout contest.
Un. Believable. 🤯
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) May 3, 2025
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Instant #InvestecChampionsCup highlights of @SaintsRugby's win ➡️ https://t.co/L6HmDCyOty pic.twitter.com/98lEMuVs2k
OPENING DAY OF KZN SEASON WHETS APPETITE
Did we see the winner of the Hollywoodbets Durban July in action on the opening day of the KZN champions season on Saturday? It’s quite possible because Eight On Eighteen, the current favourite, was by no means disgraced when second to stable companion Sail The Seas (July fifth favourite) in the Guineas over 1600m, while See It Again (current third favourite) ran a cracker to finish second in the 1400m Drill Hall Stakes.
What was interesting was champion trainer Justin Snaith’s assertion that “the three-year-old crop is the best in years”, and jockey Richard Fourie stating there is “much more to come from Eight On Eighteen”. Let the mind games begin!
SPOTLIGHT ON OTHER SOUTH AFRICANS
Akani Simbine won a second successive Diamond League 100m when he stopped the clock in 9.98 seconds in Shanghai. He has been in fine form this season, and while it’s still early days as the rest of the world’s top speedsters get into their 2025 campaigns, Simbine is the fastest man on the planet right now …
Kevin Lerena will lay claim to being the best bridgerweight boxer on the planet too, admittedly in a division that won’t feel the love from purists, after he stopped overmatched Ukrainian Sergiy Radchenko in three rounds. The division is for those bigger than cruiserweight, but too small for heavyweight …
Sundowns retained their lead of 12 points at the head of the Betway Premiership when they beat struggling Cape Town City 2-0, but the game of the weekend saw Pirates come from a goal down to beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1. Releophile Mofokeng scored the winner in the 69th minute to leave Chiefs in the second half of the table.
