Another weekend has passed, and once again there was sport for Africa. We're quite glad (with hindsight) that the Blogger crash on Friday consumed our This Sporting Life post, as some of our predictions were way off beam!
One that we did get right though was the Chiefs win over a tiring Stormers side; always a likelihood given the pysical match the Stromers had played against the Crusaders the week before, and travel from South Africa. We've been to South Africa a few times, and for some reason the trip back tp New Zealand always takes longer to recover from. The Highlanders were the only other New Zealand team to record a win. The Blues and the Crusaders will have to regroup quickly as the competition enters the last weeks of the conference phase.
The Warriors have emerged as one of the NRL's form teams. With six wins in the last seven matches and four on the trot, they are now placed 6th in the competition, and well in the playoff mix. Even more commendable is the fact that they have won three consecutive away matches; an area in which they've struggled in past seasons. They have a run of home matches towards the end of the season, and if the side can stay reasonably injury-free, a top-four finish is on the cards. Yesterday's win against Newcastle was built upon a fantastic defensive effort in the second half, which showed an abundance of character in the team.
New Zealand will be represented in the ANZ Netball final next Sunday, but it won't be the Magic; the Northern Mystics upset the Waikato side yesterday. The Mystics face a daunting task against an unbeaten Queensland team, but in a one-off match, anything is possible.
What else? Manchester will be celebrating a rare double success for its football teams, with United winning the Premiership and City winning the FA Cup. Rafael Nadal's dominance of the clay has been well and truly ended by Novak Djokovic beating the Spaniard in a second sucessive tournament, extending his unbeaten start to 2011. And at TPC Sawgrass the Players' Championship is going down to the wire. The leaders have just started the back nine, and there are ten players within four shots of leader David Toms; it's anyone's tournament.
That's it from us; what caught your attention at the weekend?
3 comments:
Reflecting on the Highlanders. Just like every success in business, politics, war etc, it's all about leadership. Jamie Joseph has been brilliant in his first year. What a gutsy side it is.
What caught my attention:
1. The Crusaders were lousy (as was Bryce Lawrence who had a shocker)....
2. Djokovic is really rocking and rolling Nadal's and Federer's world.....
3. How much booze did they drink in Manchester at the weekend....?
4. Well played by K J Choi at The Players (and David Toms deserves a mention too).
Lindsay - from what I have seen over the years Bryce Lawrence has had far more `shockers' than a referee of his high standing should.
From the rugby I have seen this year and I have only caught up with Super XV in the last month the best referee in world rugby is Wayne Barnes.
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