Category: Sport

The Springboks opened the inaugural Nations Championship in emphatic style at Ellis Park, scoring seven tries in a 45-21 victory over England and giving South African supporters a powerful start to the new international campaign.

The final score reflected a performance built around fast starts, physical pressure and a decisive second-half surge. SA Rugby confirmed that South Africa led 17-14 at half-time before pulling away after the break, turning a competitive contest into a convincing opening win.

A rapid start at Ellis Park

South Africa established the tone immediately. Cheslin Kolbe, playing his 50th Test, crossed for the Springboks’ second try in the sixth minute after a break sparked by prop Ox Nche. Kurt-Lee Arendse added another score during an opening spell in which the hosts repeatedly converted territory into points.

England responded before the interval and reduced the margin to three points, ensuring the home side still had work to do. The Springboks returned from the break with renewed control. Grant Williams scored from the base of a ruck, Jesse Kriel finished in the corner, and the forward pack kept applying pressure as the match moved into its closing stages.

Malcolm Marx later scored his 27th Test try from a driving maul before Zachary Porthen-Dixon added South Africa’s seventh. A detailed Sky Sports match report recorded the same 45-21 result and highlighted the Springboks’ ability to regain momentum after England’s first-half comeback.

Experience and new energy combine

The victory showed the value of combining established Test performers with players taking on bigger roles. Kolbe marked a personal milestone, while the contributions of Williams and the forwards demonstrated the depth available to the coaching group at the start of the season.

Captain Pieter-Steph du Toit described the match as a tough contest and credited the team with returning to its plan after losing some control late in the first half. That adjustment was visible on the scoreboard: South Africa moved from a narrow three-point lead at the break to a 24-point winning margin.

The result also gives the Springboks early momentum in a new competition that brings leading international teams together. It extended the team’s strong run of form and offered the Ellis Park crowd seven tries to celebrate on home soil.

Next stop Pretoria

South Africa’s next Nations Championship assignment is against Scotland in Pretoria on Saturday, 11 July. The opening win provides a solid platform, but the measured response from the players suggests the focus will quickly move to improving execution and sustaining pressure for longer periods.

For supporters, the first chapter delivered exactly the positive sporting spectacle they hoped for: a full-blooded Test, a composed response to a challenge, and a Springbok side finishing with authority.

This article was produced with AI assistance and editorially reviewed by Mzansi News Online.

South Africa launched its African Athletics Championships campaign in the best possible fashion in Accra, Ghana, with 21-year-old Aiden Smith winning the very first gold medal of the entire meet in the men’s shot put.

Smith, a University of Johannesburg student, sent his implement out to 20.01m to top the podium, setting an early tone for the South African team at the 24th edition of the continental showpiece.

His victory was soon followed by further golden moments for the country, as teammates Collette Uys and Olympic silver medallist Luvo Manyonga added their own continental titles in Accra.

Smith leads from the front

For Smith, the win marked his first African Championships gold, adding a continental crown to a growing collection of honours. The 21-year-old arrived in Accra as the reigning World University Games champion, and he delivered when it mattered most.

By being the first South African on the podium and the first athlete to win gold at the championships, Smith handed the national team a confidence-boosting start to the meet.

Uys completes shot put double

South Africa’s strength in the shot put circle was not limited to the men’s event. Collette Uys claimed the women’s shot put title with a throw of 17.63m, ensuring the country celebrated success in both versions of the discipline.

The result underlined a productive period for South African throwers on the continental stage, with two gold medals secured in the shot put alone.

Manyonga’s comeback continues

One of the standout stories of the championships was the continued resurgence of long jumper Luvo Manyonga. The 35-year-old, an Olympic silver medallist, soared to 8.15m with his opening leap to win the men’s long jump.

Remarkably, the title was Manyonga’s first African Championships gold, a milestone achievement that capped his return to the top of the podium on the continental stage.

His opening-jump victory added to the sense of momentum building around the South African squad in Accra.

A strong opening in Accra

The 24th African Championships in Athletics were staged in Accra, Ghana, from 12 to 17 May 2026, bringing together the continent’s leading athletes across track and field disciplines.

With gold medals from Smith, Uys and Manyonga among the early highlights, South Africa established an encouraging foundation for its campaign at the championships.

The performances of the throwers and Manyonga’s long jump triumph offered a positive snapshot of South African athletics talent, blending the rise of a young champion in Smith with the experience of an established star in Manyonga.

South African distance running queen Gerda Steyn powered to a historic fifth Comrades Marathon victory on Sunday, 14 June, crossing the line in 5:44:53 to smash her own Up Run course record and seal her fourth consecutive win in the famed 86km ultramarathon between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

According to results published by iRunFar, Steyn’s winning time bettered her previous Up Run record of 5:49:46 by just under five minutes, underlining her continued dominance of the race known as “The Ultimate Human Race.” The 2026 edition started at 5am, sending runners on the gruelling uphill journey from the coast to the KwaZulu-Natal capital.

Steyn rewrites the record books

The fifth title cements Steyn’s status as one of the most decorated athletes in Comrades history. Her latest triumph also marked a fourth win in a row, a run of consistency that has set her apart from the field in recent years.

The victory came with a substantial reward. According to the Daily Maverick, Steyn earned R2,322,000 in total prize money, made up of a R925,000 winner’s purse and a R605,000 course-record bonus, among other incentives.

Behind her, the women’s podium was completed by two more strong performances:

• Gerda Steyn — 5:44:53 (winner, new Up Run record)
• Nobukhosi Tshuma — 5:53:36 (second)
• Irvette van Zyl — 6:02:30 (third)

Kusche stuns the field

The records did not stop with the women’s race. George Kusche set a record-breaking time to win the men’s Up Run, according to iRunFar and the Daily Maverick, capping a landmark day for the event.

Kusche’s performance ensured that both the men’s and women’s Up Run records fell on the same day, a rare double that elevated the 2026 edition into one of the most memorable in the race’s recent history.

A landmark edition

With course records tumbling in both the men’s and women’s races, the 2026 Comrades Marathon delivered a standout chapter for South African ultramarathon running. The 86km route from Durban to Pietermaritzburg once again tested the limits of endurance, and on this occasion produced history at the very front of the field.

For Steyn, the achievement adds another milestone to a career that has reshaped expectations of what is possible on the Comrades course. For Kusche, the record run announced a new high point in the men’s competition.

South Africa’s national football team have reached the FIFA World Cup knockout stage for the first time in the country’s history, beating South Korea 1-0 at Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe on Thursday, 25 June 2026. A 63rd-minute strike from winger Thapelo Maseko secured second place in Group A and set up a Round of 32 meeting with Canada.

The result marks a milestone for Bafana Bafana, who had never before progressed beyond the group stage at a World Cup despite previous appearances in 1998, 2002 and 2010. According to Daily Maverick, the win means South Africa have finally broken a barrier that had stood since their tournament debut.

Maseko’s moment

The decisive goal came midway through the second half, when Thapelo Maseko found the net on 63 minutes. At 22 years and 225 days, Maseko became South Africa’s second-youngest World Cup goalscorer, according to reporting on the match.

The single goal was enough to settle a tense contest in Guadalupe and confirm Bafana Bafana’s place in the next round.

From opening defeat to second place

South Africa’s progress was far from straightforward. The team had to recover from a difficult start to their Group A campaign, which included:

• A 2-0 opening loss to Mexico
• A draw with Czechia
• The 1-0 win over South Korea that sealed second place

That sequence of results was enough for Bafana Bafana to finish second in the group and book their knockout berth, as confirmed by France 24.

The achievement is all the more significant given that this is South Africa’s first World Cup appearance since they hosted the tournament in 2010. The long wait to return to the global stage has now been matched by an unprecedented run into the knockout rounds.

Next up: Canada in Los Angeles

Bafana Bafana will now turn their attention to the Round of 32, where they will face Canada. The match is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, 28 June 2026, with kick-off at 21:00 South African time.

Victory over Canada would extend South Africa’s historic campaign even further, but for now the focus is on a result that has already rewritten the record books for the national side.