Gary Lemke looks back at a jam-packed sporting weekend where the Premier League title race looks set for a blockbuster conclusion, while the Stormers' luck ran out in the Champions Cup.
EPL TITLE RACE STILL WIDE OPEN,
Advantage Arsenal, or Man City, you might say? Nah. With seven games remaining in the race to the English Premier League title there’s one point separating the Gunners, Liverpool and City. As we correctly forecast a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s blockbuster at Old Trafford – I made the points about how often that scoreline comes up in a “top six” match and that United’s adrenalin would fuel tired legs – it’s still too early to call a title winner. On paper City have the “easiest” run-in, but as the age-old cliche tells us, games are played on grass, not paper. For those wondering what the Hollywoodbets odds are, it’s 15/10 City, 7/4 Arsenal and 9/4 Liverpool. I think they might have it right.
IS RED BULL’S DOMINANCE A TURN-ON FOR YOU?
Don’t say we didn’t tell you, but “we told you”. After a rare Red Bull malfunction in the Australian GP, normal service resumed in Japan where Max Verstappen led home teammate Sergio Perez for a predictable 1-2, followed by the Ferraris of Carlos Saitz and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen won 199 of last season’s 22 grands prix and he’s now won three of the first four in 2024 – with only mechanical failure stopping him in Melbourne. Now, a genuine question. How many readers of this got up at 6am to watch the Japan F1 Grand Prix on Sunday morning?
I didn’t, perhaps because a black south easter was sweeping over the Cape, but more likely because I felt the bigger surprise would be to find that Verstappen hadn’t won. Again, I’m genuinely interested in viewership figures as to whether F1 and Verstappen/Red Bull’s dominance is becoming a turn-on, or a turn-off?
BUMRAH’S 2-22 GOES UNREWARDED
I’m not sure what sport they’re playing in the Indian Premier League, but it isn’t cricket. After 20 (of 74) games, the average batting score per innings was 185. That’s 9.25 runs per over. When South Africa beat Australia in that “438 game” at the Wanderers they did so at a run rate of 8.76 per over. For 50 overs, I understand.
That was in 2006. I know the difference between 20 overs and 50 overs, but we’re getting into 300 territory for a T20. It will happen sometime in a “representative” match. Anrich Nortje went 466646 in his final over. His first five balls resembled Nelson Mandela’s prison number. Player of the match was Romario Shepherd with 39 off 10 balls. In the context of 439 runs scored from 40 overs, Jasprit Bumrah had figures of 2-22 from his four overs as his Mumbai Indians won. Surely that’s man-of-the-match stuff?
Babar Azam picks Naseem Shah over Jasprit Bumrah to defend 10 runs in the last over of the T20 final.
— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) April 8, 2024
Thought? pic.twitter.com/vbg5rLf9p5
BLITZBOKS SLIP TO SIXTH IN HONG KONG
New Zealand might not be having the best 15’s time of it at the moment, but they’re back on top of the Sevens tree. Their men and women both lifted trophies at the Hong Kong Sevens to go No. 1 in the standings in both. South Africa’s men still have to qualify for the Olympics, but should do so, although they’re going to have to up their game to earn a medal.
They finished sixth in Hong Kong to continue a disappointing season (losing to Australia and Fiji) and earning a medal at the Paris Games won’t be easy. Hosts France set down a marker when losing to NZ in the final and threw their names into the hat of potential medallists in Paris.
Disappointing end to our week in Hong Kong with defeat to Fiji 🏉#PoweredByUnity #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/nQcpjb0BH5
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) April 7, 2024
WHY RACING ALLOWS US ALL TO DREAM
Racegoers had a feast on Champions Day at Turffontein when World Pools help swell the Tote in four Grade 1 races. As we mentioned in our weekend lookahead, there were five short-priced, “unbeateable” favourites which came to 9-2 as a multi.
There’s an expression, “if it looks too good to be true, it usually is”. Three of those favourites (at 1/5, 1/4 and 6/10) ran third. Two winners – Gimme A Nother and Royal Victory – shortened in the betting for the Hollywoodbets July. Meanwhile, jockey Frankie Dettori rode six straight winners in California, at combined odds of 77,000 to 1. You just have to love racing!
Incredible scenes at #Turffontein! 🥳
— World Pool (@WorldPool) April 6, 2024
ROYAL VICTORY takes out the G1 @WorldPool Premier’s Champions Challenge for @MuziYeni and Nathan Kotzen.
🇿🇦 🤝 #WorldPool | @HKJC_Racing pic.twitter.com/xiHsSQOhe4
THE ONE-POINT WIN HAD TO END SOMETIME
The law of averages said that South African teams couldn’t always be on the right side of one-point wins. For the Stormers, their luck ran out when Manie Libbock missed a conversion after the hooter as they went down 22-21 to La Rochelle. That left only the Bulls flying the SA flag in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup, where they travel to Northampton. Those travel plans, if social media is to be believed, are a mess, with the players all departing on several different flights.
Elsewhere, in the lesser Challenge Cup, the Sharks reached the quarter-finals with an emphatic 47-3 win over Zebre. In that sort of mood, the Durban-based side can go all the way in the competition.
MANIE LIBBOK 🫶❤️
— Sardiq (@SardiqWP) April 7, 2024
Stormers scored 21 points yesterday
- 3 out of 3 penalties: 9 pnts
- 1 of 2 conversions: 2 pnts
- 2 tries: 10 pnts
Manie directly influencial in both tries; all 21 points!
Hard to describe yesterday's gale-force near-50 km/h winds if you weren't here.#STOvSR
