African players in Europe: Semenyo brace helps City top table

Ghana star Antoine Semenyo scored twice for Manchester City, whose 5-3 victory over Sunderland took them to the top of the Premier League table at the weekend. iwanktv.club

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

ANTOINE SEMENYO (Manchester City)

Semenyo scored his first goals this season in the win over Sunderland. He netted in the 43rd minute, lashing home from close-range for City’s third goal. He struck again with a composed finish from Rayan Cherki’s pass in the 57th minute to put City 4-2 up at the Etihad Stadium. Enzo Maresca’s side survived Brian Brobbey’s hat-trick for Sunderland to move three points clear of second-placed Arsenal.

NICOLAS JACKSON (Aston Villa)

The Senegal striker was on target for the second time this term in his team’s 3-2 win at troubled Tottenham. Jackson’s previous goal came in the Champions League against Club Brugge and he broke his Premier League duck for the current campaign in the 67th minute. Evading Jan Paul van Hecke, Jackson lashed home with a thunderous finish to put Villa two goals in front and on course for their first league win in five games this season despite a late rally from Tottenham.

SPAIN

ILAIX MORIBA (Celta Vigo)

Guinea midfielder Moriba netted his first goal of the season to help Celta Vigo rout Racing Santander 5-0 and claim their first Liga win of the season. The former Barcelona youngster surged towards the box and picked his spot with a neat low strike from 20 yards to put the Galicians two goals up.

GERMANY

ISMAEL SAIBARI (Bayern Munich)

Saibari scored his first goal for Bayern since arriving from PSV Eindhoven in mid-2026 in the 7-0 Bundesliga demolition of Union Berlin. Cutting in from the left, Saibari made the most of more poor Union defending to score Bayern’s fifth with 20 minutes remaining. The goal capped an excellent weekend for the Spain-born Morocco forward, who was named footballer of the season in the Netherlands on Saturday. The 25-year-old scored 19 goals and provided nine assists in 37 matches as Eindhoven won the Dutch league title.

FRANCE

ERNEST NUAMAH (Lyon)

Ghana winger Nuamah scored twice within 30 minutes as second-placed Lyon hammered Rennes 4-0 in Ligue 1. The 22-year-old received a standing ovation when substituted midway through the second half. He has scored four goals in all competitions this season.

ILAN KEBBAL (Paris FC)

Algeria international Kebbal opened the scoring after 18 minutes for Paris FC, who beat Strasbourg 2-1 to lie third, two points behind leaders Monaco. A lay-off from Mali striker Lassine Sinayoko set up the midfielder born in France to score with a rising shot.

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea is set to undergo surgery on the shoulder injury he suffered against the Springboks, adding to a growing injury list.

Savea dislocated his shoulder during the third Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in South Africa and returned home before the fourth Test in Baltimore. His recovery time will only become clear after surgery, but he is unlikely to return before the start of the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season.

It is not yet known where Savea will play next season after the demise of Moana Pasifika, with the loose forward yet to announce his club future.

Savea is not the only All Blacks forward facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

GOLDIE: Boks can’t get much better

Loose forward Luke Jacobson, who has emerged as a regular starter under new coach Dave Rennie, has already undergone surgery for an elbow tendon injury and is expected to be out for around five months. Winger Caleb Clarke is also set to miss around five months after rupturing a shoulder tendon.

There are further concerns in the backline, with experienced midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown still four to six weeks away from a return as he recovers from an MCL injury. His knee problem will rule him out of both Bledisloe Cup Tests against Australia on 10 and 17 October.

PLUS: Boks show All Blacks what they’re missing

Billy Proctor will also miss those two Tests after fracturing his shoulder blade early during the All Blacks’ South African tour.

The centre is on a similar recovery timeline to Lienert-Brown, leaving the All Blacks with several key players sidelined as they prepare for the Bledisloe Cup.

The post Ardie to go under the knife appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

The 2026-27 URC kicks off this week with the Stormers and Bulls overseas and the Sharks and Lions at home, the latter hosting the defending champions at Ellis Park.

After a blockbuster Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, all four South African clubs have several Springboks rested or involved in Rassie Erasmus’ plans for a one-off Test against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.

The STORMERS face Connacht in round one on Friday night at Galway’s Sportsground, where captain Ruhan Nel wants to avenge last season’s league loss to the Irish province in Cape Town.

2026-27 URC PREVIEW: Stormers

John Dobson’s men finished third with 12 wins, five losses and a draw, beating Cardiff in the last eight before losing the semi-final to Leinster in Dublin.

The Capetonians travel to Ireland on the back of a pre-season defeat to the Bulls in Paarl, which followed a 38-21 loss to the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium on 7 August.

The LIONS finally reached the playoffs last term, finishing eighth before a 59-10 quarter-final exit at Leinster, and will host the back-to-back title winners on Saturday afternoon.

Van Rooyen’s Pride beat Leinster 44-12 at Ellis Park in April 2024, and led New Zealand at half-time there last month before losing 41-35.

2026-27 URC PREVIEW: Lions

The SHARKS tackle the Ospreys at Kings Park after warm-up wins over the SWD Eagles and Lions, but will want to forget a 54-0 hiding to the Kiwis in their second tour match of the Greatest Rivalry.

The Durban-based outfit finished 10th and missed the playoffs in 2025-26, having been 14th with one win from six matches when JP Pietersen replaced John Plumtree as head coach in December.

2026-27 URC PREVIEW: Sharks

Against the Ospreys, the Sharks were victorious in 2022 and 2023, lost in May 2025 and lost the latest meeting 21-17.

The BULLS visit last season’s wooden spoonists Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma on Saturday evening, having won each of the first four URC meetings by 240 points to 72, including a record 78-12 in Pretoria.

2026-27 URC PREVIEW: Bulls

Head coach Johan Ackermann, whose side finished fourth and lost a second successive decider in the Irish capital, will be desperate for a bright start. The Herd were bulldozed 50-19 in the Greatest Rivalry at Loftus Versfeld, conceding eight tries to three.

Round one fixtures:
Friday, 25 September
Benetton vs Dragons (8:45pm)
Connacht vs Stormers (8:45pm)
Ulster vs Edinburgh (8:45pm)

Saturday, 26 September
Lions vs Leinster (1:30pm)
Sharks vs Ospreys (4pm)
Munster vs Glasgow (6:30pm)
Zebre vs Bulls (6:30pm)
Scarlets vs Cardiff (8:45pm)

Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images

The post State of the URC: Vengeful Stormers, Lions restart appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is expected to make several changes to the team to face the Wallabies in a one-off Test, with the likes of Handre Pollard, Franco Mostert and Canan Moodie among those due to return.

With the match taking place on Sunday, it has been confirmed that Erasmus will reveal his matchday 23 on Tuesday at 10:30 SA time.

The match itself kicks off at 11:45.

HOW THE SPRINGBOKS COULD LINE UP AGAINST WALLABIES

SPRINGBOKS (possible selection) – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter.

Subs: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Quan Horn.

Careful planning

Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi have both said the Springboks are bracing themselves for a completely different challenge against the Wallabies.

“They’ll be really fresh and they’ve won four out of five of their recent matches, while we come off a tough series against New Zealand. But RGR and this match have nothing to do with each other. This is a completely different challenge,” Erasmus commented.

Kolisi agreed with Erasmus and said: “You always adjust for each team, but our core values are going to remain the same. Australia is completely different to New Zealand, so we’ll have to readjust certain things. It’s going to be a big challenge.”

This past weekend it was also confirmed that utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit and centre Damian de Allende have been released from camp to spend time with their families after a demanding workload during RGR, but the rest of the squad remains intact.

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