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Pirates and Durban City meet again in post-CAF clash
Orlando Pirates and Durban City are both coming off successful adventures in African competition as they meet tomorrow in the Betway Premiership at the Orlando Amstel Arena.
Pirates and Gallants both victorious
While Pirates were in Orlando on Saturday, seeing off La Cure Waves of Mauritius in the Caf Champions League, Durban City were in Burundi, beating Rukinzo FC 2-1 to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory and reach the next round of Caf Confederation Cup qualifying.
It remains to be seen just how tired the side from KwaZulu Natal are tomorrow after their long journey back, but they should be in good spirits as they aim for just a second Premiership win of the campaign. newsbetting.club
“It was a good two-leg performance from us. We knew what we had to do after the first leg and the players handled the two games well,” Durban City head coach Khalil Ben Youssef told the club’s official website.
“We didn’t come here to sit back and protect the first-leg result, we wanted to play, we wanted to score, and we wanted to win the game, and we did that.”
Durban City will now face Mauritian side AS Port-Louis in the final qualifying round for the Confederation Cup group stages.
As for Pirates, they will take on African Stars from Namibia in their final Champions League qualifier
Pirates survived a scare against La Cure Waves as they fell behind early in Orlando. The Buccaneers, however, quickly equalised and led 3-1 by half time.
Rapoo – ‘They weren’t going to beat us at home’
Pirates defender Neo Rapoo said that Pirates were always confident they could turn the tie around.
“They weren’t going to beat us at home, we just had to keep going forward and create chance after chance. We knew we would get goals,” Rapoo told Pirates media.
City, last year’s Nedbank Cup winners, have struggled for goals in the Premiership so far, netting just three times in five matches. Ben Youssef’s side, however, have the league’s second strongest defence, letting in just two goals so far.
That record is only bettered by Pirates, who have conceded just once while hammering in 12 goals at the other end of the pitch.
Reigning champions Pirates currently trail Mamelodi Sundowns by seven points at the top of the table. Ouaddou’s side do have three games in hand, two of which will have been played before the upcoming international break.
The Buccaneers will face Marumo Gallants at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Sunday. First, however, comes Durban City in a repeat of this season’s MTN8 quarterfinal. In that game, City took the Buccaneers right to the wire, with only a goal from Thapelo Mokobodi in the last minute of extra time sealing a 2-1 win.
Former Wallabies look for Boks’ weak link
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau have credited Rassie Erasmus with honing the Springbok game to draw on player depth for an 80-minute onslaught.
On the latest episode of the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast, the former Wallabies highlighted what has made the back-to-back world champions so difficult to beat after their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series triumph over the All Blacks.
The Boks will look to carry that dominance into a one-off Test against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday, 27 September.
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“It’s hard to find a weak link in their game,” Ashley-Cooper said. “Even when you’re previewing teams, it might be someone under the high ball, or someone’s inside shoulder in defence.
“Their set-piece is dominant. Defensively, across the board, they’re strong. They’ve got a bit of line speed, they open up the edge for attacking teams – if you’re good enough to get there, that’s fair play. But their attack, their D, their power …”
Mitchell noted the impact of the bench as a point of difference, along with the Boks’ physicality.
“Their carries are dominant. That helps. Even like [André] Esterhuizen, [Cameron] Hanekom off the bench; they come on – impact.”
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For Giteau, that strength in depth is precisely why opponents can no longer bank on wearing the Boks down over the course of a Test.
“That’s why they’re No 1,” he said. “Every player, when you watch the Springboks – when you’re talking about the numbers they have on the bench and the impact that they have – every player seems to gain a level of confidence when they play for the Springboks.
“It’s almost like they know they’re going to wear the teams down, and everyone comes on with such clarity. It just looks like they’re so well-oiled at the moment.”
ALSO: Rassie’s Boks ‘smartest guys in the room’
Ashley-Cooper called South Africa the most dominant team from kick-off and warned that rivals must simply survive the opening quarter-hour before the physicality tells.
Mitchell praised Erasmus’ man-management, crediting him with giving players clarity on where they stand.
“To have so many players getting rotated so frequently and not have any fractures within the group … Everything you hear about the Springboks when they talk, it’s all about the team,” he added.
“To be able to manage that for over a sustained period of time is a pretty special quality as a coach.”
Photo: Caean Couto/Getty Images
The post Former Wallabies look for Boks’ weak link appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
From pro rugby to supporting others’ mental health
At just 29, Rhys Thomas’s international rugby career was ended by a heart attack, which profoundly affected his sense of identity, his physical health and his mental health.
“It felt like I was losing everything. I was a young man, married with four kids, and when I came out of hospital, I started having panic attacks,” Rhys, now 43, recalls. He has since rebuilt his life around helping others access support after spiralling into a self-destructive mental health crisis.
“I didn’t really understand what mental health meant until that point. If you’d asked me to show empathy for someone with anxiety or a panic disorder just three weeks before my heart attack, I wouldn’t have known it was a ‘thing’. I was one of those guys who would’ve said, ‘Pull yourself together, don’t be a wuss,’” he says.
Bitter experience led Rhys to a first-hand understanding of mental health struggles. In 2013, after his heart condition had deteriorated, Rhys was told he had only a year to live. After months of torturous stress, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a mechanical heart pump, was implanted to help keep Rhys alive, but as his physical health stabilised, his mental health deteriorated.
“We are all carrying some degree of suffering, but not everyone has the words to understand and describe what they are going through, even to themselves. This was the case for me. Often, we aren’t taught about the wide spectrum of feelings we experience, or how to navigate them. I now realise the importance of emotional intelligence, and how interconnected our mental health is with our physical health,” Rhys says.
“Many men, in particular, are brought up to believe we have to be stoic, and we’re often not encouraged to share our emotions. The competitive men’s rugby environment reinforced this, in my experience: you just don’t show weakness. Many people are left with an inability to be vulnerable, which is extremely isolating, especially when life’s burdens become too heavy to bear alone.”
Anxiety and sleepless nights plagued Rhys. “When my rugby career ended, it felt as if I didn’t know who I was anymore. Looking back, there was a bit of self-pity and emotional pain I didn’t know how to handle. I went down a dark rabbit hole of alcoholism and self-sabotaging, self-destructive behaviour.”
It all came to a head for Rhys in 2019 when he crashed his car while under the influence. “The events that followed made me realise things were going to need to change. I didn’t realise how bad things really were. Three of my friends from school days arranged an intervention, and my life completely changed from that point on,” he remembers.
Rhys entered the multidisciplinary treatment programme at Netcare Akeso Stepping Stones’ Dual Diagnosis Unit, where mental health treatment is integrated with recovery from substance use.
“At first, I saw myself as a mess in rehab. I felt deep guilt and remorse for the damage I had done to my relationships with my first wife and my children. Then, I learnt the value of being in a space where I wasn’t judged. I met others carrying their own internal struggles, and together we began to offload some of the baggage we’d been holding onto. One of the hardest things for me at first was learning self-compassion. I knew I wanted to become a better man and prove myself as a father.”
Rhys describes how therapy and support groups helped him learn self-realisation and self-compassion, transforming his perspective. “It was an awakening. At the age of 37, at last I had to define, ‘Who am I really?’”
Self-realisation assists in recognising patterns, behaviours and thoughts that may or may not align with a person’s values, while self-compassion teaches us to be kinder to ourselves and less judgemental towards ourselves.
From that point, he began the long journey of rebuilding his life and taking accountability, even though his marriage was irreparably damaged. In 2020, with lockdown in force around the world, Rhys’s former rugby captain, Matt Creel, started an online support group that soon attracted over 1700 members. This led to a realisation of the tremendous need for safe spaces where people can open up about their mental health.
“Support groups helped me feel connected and understand that I could be worthy of love and joy again. Together with Matt, we started a peer support structure for a mental health community, which grew into the Welsh mental health charity Tidy Butt, meaning ‘good friend’,” he says.
To help manage his anxiety, Rhys discovered breathing techniques and cold plunge swimming, and began learning more about how they can help regulate the nervous system and manage emotions. Today, he is a motivational speaker and breathwork practitioner, and a co-founder of Saunahaüs, a cold plunge and sauna club in Sea Point, Cape Town. Drawing on his lived experience, he is a passionate advocate for emotional awareness and social connectedness to support mental health and wellbeing.
After living with a left ventricular assist device for almost 12 years, at last Rhys received a heart transplant in April 2026 at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town.
“From my lowest point in 2019, I never imagined in a million years that I’d be where I am today. I have a new heart, a new life, new love and a new baby daughter. My children have been my greatest teachers throughout, and it began with professional mental health support and the realisation that whatever we are carrying, we do not have to face it alone,” Rhys says.
“It’s easy to feel disconnected with all our technology and constant information overload, and we can get caught up in our own heads. It’s okay to acknowledge and offload some of that emotional baggage we all carry, to move forward with the lives we want to lead.”
Call Netcare Akeso’s Crisis Line on 0861 435 787, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for support in a psychological crisis. Experienced counsellors are available to listen and offer options for professional support for yourself or a loved one.
The post From pro rugby to supporting others’ mental health appeared first on SportsClub.
Holder names Kallis, Steyn in his all-time Test XI
West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder named his all-time Test XI, opening with the left-handed pairing of Matthew Hayden and Kumar Sangakkara, followed by Ricky Ponting as captain, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in the middle order.
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South Africa had two representatives in the side. Jacques Kallis at six as the team’s all-rounder, and Dale Steyn completing a formidable pace attack alongside Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose. Adam Gilchrist took the gloves at seven, with Shane Warne the lone frontline spinner.
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Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images
The post Holder names Kallis, Steyn in his all-time Test XI appeared first on SA Cricket Mag.
WATCH: Mdaka Provides Amajita Update Ahead of COSAFA U20 Championship
Amajita head coach Raymond Mdaka provide an update on his squad ahead of their upcoming COSAFA U20 Men’s Championship.
The COSAFA U20 Men’s Championship is scheduled to take place from 18 to 27 September in Mozambique.
South Africa have been drawn in Group B alongside the likes of Lesotho, Angola and Eswatini.
Amajita are the defending champions, and they will be looking to successfully defend their title.
The defending champions are scheduled to leave South Africa and make their way to Mozambique on Thursday.
WATCH: Raymond Mdaka Provides Amajita Squad Update
The post WATCH: Mdaka Provides Amajita Update Ahead of COSAFA U20 Championship appeared first on SportsClub.