Vowles: Luan’s a special player

Sharks XV coach Mike Vowles praised his team, and star fullback Luan Giliomee, after their 22-22 draw against the Lions at Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Friday night.

Giliomee, who has signed a three-year contract with the Bulls, was named Man of the Match after making a game-high 120 running metres from 14 carries, while beating seven defenders with his speed and footwork.

“Luan’s a special player,” Vowles said. “He does things at 20 years old that not many people can do. “He really understands the game and he’s tough as anything.” tbzikra.com

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The Sharks trailed 10-5 at half-time before tries from hooker Liam van Wyk and winger Christie Grobbelaar helped them take a 17-10 lead.

The Lions hit back through hooker Armand Combrinck before lock Meno Barnard’s late bonus-point try appeared to have secured victory for the hosts.

However, Lions fullback Gilermo Mentoe scored in the 83rd minute to level the scores, with flyhalf Sam Francis missing the conversion.

“Yeah, what a rollercoaster,” Vowles said. “I think in the first half we probably disappointed ourselves and let ourselves down with some poor discipline, which didn’t allow us to really get a foothold in the game.

“That was really the message at half-time.

“Then I think in the second half, the way this team defended and fought for 80-odd minutes, I’m just incredibly proud of the performance.

“I said to the coaches now, that’s probably the best 80 minutes that we’ve put together in the Currie Cup.

“So just incredibly proud of the effort, the fight and the overall performance from the group.”

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The Sharks picked up three log points but remain seventh on the Currie Cup standings, two points behind the sixth-placed Lions.

They will host the Bulls XV at Kings Park in the final round next Friday night. While the Pretoria-based side is rooted to the bottom of the log after losing all six of their matches, Vowles will not be taking them lightly.

“In this Currie Cup there are no easy games, but we’re really looking forward to playing at the Tank,” he said. “It’s obviously a real privilege to be able to play there.

“We’ll probably have a couple of sore bodies, and then we’ll be ready to go and we’ll be up for it.”

Photo: Sharks/Facebook

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The Springboks and All Blacks are primed for a colossal clash at Ellis Park on Saturday, in the first of four Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tests.

It’s the All Blacks’ first lengthy tour of South Africa in 30 years.

Historically, the visitors have won 63 of the 110 clashes between the sides, but momentum has swung the way of the Springboks in the last three years.

Here we look at the last five Tests played between the teams.

Wellington, 13 September 2025: 43-10 to the Springboks

The last match between the sides was the biggest, score-wise, in their history. It was also New Zealand’s biggest defeat in rugby.

Besides the psychological boost of avenging their defeat in Auckland, the bonus-point result was crucial to the Springboks securing their first-ever back-to-back Rugby Championship title.

The Springboks had the better chances early on but found themselves trailing 10-0, and then 10-7 at the break. They would make up for it with a dazzling second-half display.

The Springboks ran in five unanswered tries to improve on their previous best win over the All Blacks: 35-7 at Twickenham in 2023.

Cheslin Kolbe scored a brace while Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Damian Willemse and André Esterhuizen also crossed.

Manie Libbok set up Smith’s try with a cross-kick, slotted five of his six conversion attempts, and nailed a penalty to round out a brilliant performance.

Ackland, 6 September 2025: 24-17 to the All Blacks

The Springboks went into the game on a four-match winning streak against New Zealand and seemed primed to break the hosts’ 50-match unbeaten run at Eden Park, going back to 1994.

But it was not to be.

While Springbok fans might bemoan possible inconsistent refereeing, the South African side made errors aplenty, including three obstructions, knock-ons, slips, a “bok” throw in a lineout and a yellow card.

But they fought hard – seemingly against themselves and the referee – for tries by Malcolm Marx and Cobus Reinach, ultimately earning a losing bonus point in the closely contested Rugby Championship.

The All Blacks’ Ardie Savea was grateful for the result in his 100 Test cap. Tries by Emoni Narawa, Will Jordan and Quinn Tupaea made it possible.

Cape Town, 7 September 2024: 18-12 to Springboks

A second hard-fought win over the All Blacks paved the way for the Springboks’ victory in that year’s Rugby Championship.

The Boks scored two tries through captain Siya Kolisi and hooker Malcolm Marx to secure their fourth win in a row in the competition, as well as over their rivals.

Centre Damian de Allende had an outstanding performance. He carried regularly, getting over the gainline, made plenty of tackles, stole ball at the breakdowns and, later on, made an important charge down to thwart an All Blacks attacking play.

Damian McKenzie kicked over four penalties for the All Blacks

Johannesburg, 31 August 2024: 31-27 to Springboks

The All Blacks edged a hard-fought first half to take a 12-11 lead into the break, before the game opened up in the second half with the visitors initially taking a 27-17 lead, before the Boks came storming back to take the win.

Neither side had set-piece dominance, though the Springboks secured one scrum penalty.

Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked that one over, and in total slotted four penalties and two conversions for a good day out.

Bongi Mbonambi, Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams crossed for tries for the hosts, while New Zealand’s Codie Taylor, Jordie Barrett and Caleb Clarke (two tries) also crossed.

2023 World Cup Final, 28 October, Paris: 12-11 to Springboks

The third play-off that the Springboks won by just one point in that World Cup, after the quarter-final against France (29-28) and semi-final against England (16-15).

It was another heart-racing, closely fought, ground-out win for South Africa to mark their fourth World Cup title, and first back-to-back win.

Handré Pollard, called up as an injury replacement, started agaisnt Tonga in the group stage and came off the bench against France and England.

He wore the number 10 jersey in the final in the place of the struggling Libbok, and slotted four penalties in the ground-out win. He finished with 13/13 in the tournament.

Richie Mo’unga scored two penalties but missed one penalty and a conversion that could have won the trophy for his side. It was the last game he played for the All Blacks until being drafted into the squad now.

Kaizer Chiefs star Nkosingiphile Ngcobo is fit again and in the fold. However, there are still persistent problems with his fitness.

Chiefs meet Richards Bay next

Kaizer Chiefs are next in action on Wednesday, 26 August, with an away clash against Richards Bay at 19:30. The Glamour Boys are two points behind their tally at this equivalent stage last season, when they won their first three league encounters. Nkosingiphile Ngcobo’s future remains unclear after he was an unused substitute in the recent 1-1 draw with Sundowns.

Ngcobo’s Kaizer Chiefs stats

His best campaign, in terms of appearances in the league, was 2020-21 when he made 25 outings and scored four goals. Injuries have ravaged subsequent seasons, limiting Ngcobo to 16 appearances in 2021-22, then 13 in 2022-23, 12 in 2023-24 and 11 in 2024-25. Last term, encouragingly, he made 16 league appearances. However, since the aforementioned campaign in 2021, Ngcobo hasn’t managed more than two goals in a single season. He’s only scored two goals in his last three Betway Premiership seasons combined.

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Chiefs target Lorch isn’t worth the fuss

Thembinkosi Lorch spent the better part of the two years on the treatment table leading up to 2023. In the 2022-23 campaign, he made just 12 appearances in the league, exactly 40% of the Betway Premiership season, and made just 15 league outings in the season before that. Was Lorch ever worth the trouble? Even when fit and available, he couldn’t string consistent performances together and his direct output of goals and assists wasn’t good either. Chiefs’ links to 33-year-old Lorch seem tenuous, at best.

Rising loose forward star Paul de Villiers has been backed to continue his impressive deputising for skipper Siya Kolisi, when the Springboks open their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) campaign against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday (kick-off 5:10pm).

At the start of the Boks‘ international season, De Villiers was left out of the match 23 for their opening Test of the year against England, only to be thrust straight into the starting side on match day, after a late injury to Kolisi during the previous day’s captains run ruled the skipper out of the match.

The injury ended up keeping Kolisi out of all three of the Boks’ Nations Championship games, with De Villiers starting every one, and putting in superb performances in all three.

Kolisi was then expected to lead the Boks in the RGR series, but his return to action against Argentina two weeks ago, saw him last 24 minutes before suffering another hamstring injury.

Playing it safe

At Thursday’s team announcement, coach Rassie Erasmus said that the Boks could have pushed Kolisi through, but decided not to risk him, especially with a player as capable and in-form as De Villiers to call upon, and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick backed that up at Friday’s captain’s presser.

“Not having Siya, he’s our captain and our leader, will always be a big loss for us,” said Stick.

“We didn’t know that Siya was not going to be ready for this game. But the trials that we’ve given Paul de Villiers, from the beginning, against big teams, gave him an opportunity. Everyone is talking about him now,” said Stick.

“One thing that I enjoy about him is the maturity at that age. He understands his role in the team very well. Irrespective of your age, if you take full ownership of what needs to be done, you are a leader in your space. And I must say that boy’s a very smart one.

“I know it’s a different beast, playing against the All Blacks. It’s one of the toughest games you can ever play in your career. But I think he’s the right person. He’s a warrior, he doesn’t stand back for anyone, and that’s what we need for this game.”

Interesting calls

A few other interesting calls were made by the Bok management this week when they announced their team for Saturday’s match, with flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu preferred to Manie Libbok (on the bench) and Handre Pollard, while Wilco Louw, who often plays off the bench, gets a start while Thomas du Toit misses out completely.

“It’s always a tough challenge to select a match 23, week in, week out. Even in all the other games that we’ve played in the Nations Championship, there were always heavy debates in the boardroom between us as coaches,” explained Stick.

“We always look at the challenge first. The challenge that the All Blacks are going to bring. They talk about their high-tempo game, they talk about keeping the ball-in-play time.

“For us, we had to make sure that we select the best possible team for us to perform on the weekend. It doesn’t mean next week it’s going to be the same team. We’re not only looking for a 60-minute performance, we’re looking for an 80-minute performance.”

Les États généraux du film documentaire, qui ont débuté le 16 août 2026 à Lussas, en Ardèche, dans le sud-est de la France, se poursuivent jusqu’au 22 août. Cette année, le festival consacre une programmation spéciale à la « Jeune création d’Afrique subsaharienne ». Huit films venus du Sénégal, de République démocratique du Congo, de Côte d’Ivoire, du Cameroun et du Soudan ont été sélectionnés. Courts et longs métrages portent les regards d’une jeune génération de cinéastes sur leurs sociétés, entre récits intimes, mémoire, transformations urbaines et interrogations politiques.