Fouzi Lekjaâ : « Premier ministre ? Je vais vous dire une chose, je n…

Depuis son ralliement au PAM, et à moins de deux semaines des législatives du 23 septembre, le très médiatique ministre délégué au Budget et patron de la fédération de football attire tous les regards. Pourquoi est-il entré dans l’arène politique ? Envisage-t-il la primature ? Quelles ambitions nourrit-il pour la Coupe du monde que le royaume accueillera en 2030 ? Qu’a-t-il à dire sur la très polémique finale de la CAN contre le Sénégal et ses relations avec Gianni Infantino ? Interview exclusive. freshyourfeel.org

Djamel Sedjati a une nouvelle fois marqué les esprits sur la scène internationale. L’Algérien a livré une finale de très haut niveau à Budapest, face à plusieurs références mondiales du 800 mètres, pour s’offrir le titre de la première édition de l’Ultimate Championship.

The post Athlétisme : Djamel Sedjati frappe encore et s’offre une médaille d’or ! appeared first on Football Algérien - DZFOOT.COM.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels could be a valuable Bomb Squad member, says Nick Mallett, who expects Rassie Erasmus to select a new-look Bok team to face the Wallabies next up.

The versatile Wessels played off the bench in the 22 August Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series opener, with Deon Fourie and Gerhard Steenekamp since deputising for hooker Malcolm Marx and loosehead prop Ox Nché, respectively.

Erasmus has confirmed Wessels is in the mix as a deputy for Marx and according to Mallett, the 25-year-old should be the go-to No 2 for the one-off clash in Perth on Sunday, 27 September, or at least among the match-day replacements.

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“I’m not sure why they’ve stopped investing time in Jan-Hendrik,” the former Bok coach said on the Talking Boks podcast.

“He’s the guy, for me, who is the closest to Marx. He’s a big, strong guy and must be close to 120 kilos. He’s very fast, he throws in well.

“I feel that he’s a guy who, if they really spent time with, he could sort of emulate a bit of what Marx does. He’s very fast and he could learn to be a very good stealer.

“They’ve used [Johan] Grobbelaar a lot and they brought Deon back into the mix. They’ve used André-Hugo Venter, he’s had one or two Tests.

“But Wessels, for me, if he concentrated on being a hooker, he’d be a very good Bomb Squad guy and assist us to dominate those last 30 minutes.”

SIYA: Rassie reminded us how powerful we are

Handré Pollard and Franco Mostert are expected to return from injury Down Under, while the likes of Aphelele Fassi, Paul de Villiers and Ntuthuko Mchunu set for game time with first-choice Boks needing a break.

“I would expect there to be quite a number of changes, maybe nine or 10,” Mallett said. “I’m not sure where Grant Williams is. Canan Moodie obviously needs a good run there.

“The guys have really taken knocks in this Greatest Rivalry series and have got through it, but that Australian trip might be a bridge too far for quite a few of those guys.

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“It might be a sort of Argentina-type team, pretty much your back-up guys.

“[De Villiers] did so well and then, because of Siya [Kolisi] coming back and the need to look for a different style of replacement in Cameron Hanekom, he’s also missed out.

“There are a number of players who could do the job for us.”

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

The post Mallett names the next Marx appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Well, what a few weeks of rugby it has been.

It flew by, but what a wonderful series. And at the end of it, the Springboks are still boss!

In a year from now, the 2027 World Cup will be two weeks away from kicking off and you can be sure the Boks will have a target on their backs, as has been the case for a few years now.

But, coach Rassie Erasmus will want nothing else, because it seems the Boks thrive under pressure and when they’re written off.

In the last few weeks when the All Blacks were beating second and third string URC sides and edged the Boks at Ellis Park in the first Test, many might have felt the writing was on the wall.

But, as they’ve done so many times under Erasmus, they hit back, winning the next three Tests to take the Greatest Rivalry series.

It was a deserved win, because the Boks were the better team. Period.

All Blacks outplayed

Not in a long time has a New Zealand side seemed so average as the one put out by Dave Rennie. Yes, they played some sparkling rugby at times, scored some pretty tries, and there’s no doubt they have some quality players, but this All Blacks team didn’t scare the Boks like teams of the past did.

Rennie’s side was perhaps a bit soft upfront, and when the pressure was on and when the Boks’ power game came to the fore, they didn’t have an answer.

But, they’ll get stronger, more determined and they’ll look to build greater depth and they’ll challenge the Boks again. As it should be … and I can’t wait for the next instalment of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in New Zealand in 2030.

And hopefully there can be more proper tours in future … imagine England coming here for four Tests; that would also be fun.

For now, we can and should again celebrate the Boks who, despite not being at their best, won the series 3-1.

Rugby is alive and well

There were ups and downs, there was a bit of bickering, and there were refereeing issues, again … but overall, what a wonderful few weeks of rugby.

Plenty of lessons would have been learned, mainly about the “midweek games’ and perhaps making it a three-Test series next time, but Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry lived up to the hype and gave us everything we hoped it would.

South African and New Zealand rugby fans were fully invested in the series, but so was the rest of the watching world. And you can’t ask for more than that.

Rugby in South Africa is truly alive and well. And long may this Boks-All Blacks rivalry continue.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi said they were blown away by the support the Springboks received in the United States for their fourth Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks.

Over 68,000 spectators attended the match between South Africa and New Zealand at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, with many in the crowd donning green and cheering the Springboks as they beat the All Blacks 43-28 to win the series 3-1.

This followed a warm welcome at the airport and regular interactions with fans in the week ahead of the game.

Erasmus was initially reluctant to expect a big attendance at the 70,000-capacity neutral venue. He told the media the Springboks had played in front of empty stadiums during Covid-19, and doing so would not be new.

As it turned out, there was plenty of support from South African travellers and expats, which bodes well ahead of the 2031 World Cup in the US.

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‘So many South Africans’

“There’s a hell of a lot of people here and it’s awesome,” the coach said afterwards.

“It’s nice to have so many South Africans. I don’t know how they afforded it or how they got in here. But it’s awesome to go all over the world and there are so many South Africans.”

Kolisi added: “It was super special. On our way to the game, the amount of green jerseys we saw, the amount of people we saw lining up at Nando’s. It was crazy.

“At the hotel too, when we went to the captain’s run and today around the bus… That’s who we do it for. Those who can afford to come here and those who are home.”

The Bok captain said during a stoppage when the referee’s microphone stopped working, they soaked up the crowd singing and cheering for them.

“We are super grateful for all the people who bought tickets and travelled. Hopefully we made it special for them.

“We just want to please South African people. We want them to be happy. I know we sometimes piss off people all over the world by the way we play… but we really care most about South African people.”

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Springboks hope rugby takes off in US

Erasmus also said he and his coaches were impressed by the quality of the facilities.

“The professionalism of how the hotel handled us with recovery and the food. They’re apparently used to getting seven buses to a match like this. We had one bus.

“The changeroom had 63 seats. I think we can learn a hell of a lot from getting rugby more professional.”

He said sporting codes and the media should work together to educate Americans about rugby, which can be difficult to grasp with all its laws if you do not grow up with it.

“If one can get that right, we would be in a lovely place.”

Kolisi also hoped the sport would grow in the US before the 2031 World Cup. He said seeing the passion of the South African and New Zealand fans would be a motivating factor.

“Also the manner that we played, and the respect that we have for one another as a team. I think it’s a game that Americans will enjoy.

“They love physical sport. My favourite sport is ice hockey because they have moments…” Kolisi chuckled.

“I really think the more teams get to play here and the more that is invested in their rugby, hopefully the more it will grow.”