Just Plain Sport

🇿🇦 VICTOR MATFIELD CALLS ETZEBETH THE BEST BOK EVER BUT OUT OF FORM 🏉

Everyone screenshotted the last line. Almost nobody quoted the two before it, where Victor Matfield says Eben Etzebeth was under pressure and not in great form — eleven words before calling him the best Springbok of all time. 👀

Cap 144. Eighty minutes. 18 tackles. Three All Black throws spoiled. Ten months out of Test rugby before it. 🇿🇦

🗣️ "Matfield didn't hand him the title on reputation — he handed it over after watching him do the work under the worst week of scrutiny he's had!" – 🎙️Jay

The full quote, and why it hits harder than the graphic:
https://justplainsport.com/rugby/victor-matfield-eben-etzebeth/

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🇿🇦 RODRIGUES CALLS OUT DU PLESSIS, UFC 335 STILL EMPTY 🥊

Gregory Rodrigues beat Anthony Hernandez over five rounds in Sacramento, then called Dricus du Plessis out by name. The UFC has said nothing — and UFC 335 on 12 December still has no main event announced. 👀

🗣️ "A poster nobody at the UFC printed is doing more work than the matchmakers right now!" – 🎙️Jay

There's a graphic pairing them up doing the rounds on Instagram. It came from a fan page, not the UFC, and it has Rodrigues ranked wrong. What it's telling you about that blank December card is the real story.

The full breakdown here:
https://justplainsport.com/ufc-mma/rodrigues-du-plessis-ufc335/

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🇿🇦 PIETER-STEPH DU TOIT 100TH TEST: SPRINGBOK CENTURION NUMBER 11 🔥

Since 1891, eleven Springboks have reached 100 Tests. Pieter-Steph du Toit made it eleven on Saturday — and he is the only one of them who beat the All Blacks on the day. 🗣️ "Rassie took the armband off him so he could just play, and he broke a curse four legends couldn't touch!" – 🎙️Jay

Sam Cane captained the All Blacks against him and calls him a rare breed. England's Ben Earl calls him freakish. Nienaber said he'd chase a plastic bag across the field. 💥

The full centurion roll of honour and where PSDT fits:
https://justplainsport.com/rugby/pieter-steph-du-toit-100th-test/

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🇿🇦 HARRIS DRAWS TSITSIPAS IN US OPEN SECOND ROUND 🎾

Lloyd Harris came through three rounds of qualifying and dropped Jack Kennedy 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 — and his reward is Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday. 🎾

🗣️ "Harris has spent four years being told the 2021 run was the ceiling. Wednesday is where he gets to argue!" – 🎙️Jay

Former world No. 3, two Slam finals, and unseeded here for the first time ever. The Greek needed four sets and 50 winners to knock out Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils just to get to this one.

Everything you need on Wednesday's match here:
https://justplainsport.com/tennis/lloyd-harris-vs-tsitsipas-us-open/

🇿🇦 KOLBE TO FULLBACK AS RASSIE STICKS WITH CONTINUITY 🏉

Rassie Erasmus has kept his combinations together for the third Test against the All Blacks and taken them to FNB Stadium, where South Africa has never beaten New Zealand.

Cheslin Kolbe shifts to fullback with Kurt-Lee Arendse coming in on the wing, and Ox Nche, Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx return to the front row.

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🗣️ "Kolbe on fullback is going to be crazy exciting in Soweto! I can't wait to see the havoc he's about to unleash." – 🎙️Jay
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15 Kolbe
14 Arendse
13 Kriel
12 De Allende
11 Ho**er
10 Feinberg-Mngomezulu
9 Reinach
8 Wiese
7 Du Toit
6 Kolisi (c)
5 Nortje
4 Etzebeth
3 Louw
2 Marx
1 Nche

MATCH DETAILS:
FIXTURE: South Africa v New Zealand
SERIES: Castle Lager Double Malt Rugby's Greatest Rivalry, third Test
DATE: Saturday
VENUE: FNB Stadium, Soweto
KICKOFF: 17h10 SAST

See every change and what's at stake here:
https://justplainsport.com/rugby/kolbe-to-fullback-as-rassie-sticks-with-continuity/

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🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA’S LLOYD HARRIS IS THROUGH TO THE US OPEN SECOND ROUND! 💪
The Capetonian came the hard way — three qualifying wins, then a clean 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 over American wildcard Jack Kennedy on Sunday.
Next up: the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Arthur Fils [10]. That match is on Louis Armstrong today. Harris’s second round is expected Wednesday.
Four wins in a week. Serve firing. The 2021 quarter-final run is still the benchmark.
👉 The next one will tell us if Flushing Meadows still lives in the legs.
Full story 👇�https://justplainsport.com/tennis/lloyd-harris-through-to-the-us-open-second-round/
– Jay | JustPlainSport

🇿🇦 KOEKEMOER BREAKS SOUTH AFRICAN UNDER 20 RECORD IN ITALY 🔥

Congratulations to Leendert Koekemoer clocking a personal best and setting a new South African under 20 record of 44.52 to win the men's 400m at the Grand Prix Brescia in Italy.

He beat Dutch record holder Jonas Phijffers, who ran 44.61, and Australia's Reece Holder in 44.63. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana was eighth in 45.34.

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🗣️ "He's a 19 year old competing against senior world-class 400m men, and he wins the race outright — this kid is gonna be a problem!" – Jay
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🎙️ FULL STORY: https://justplainsport.com/athletics/koekemoer-sa-u20-record/

Image: Track Gazette

🇿🇦 WELL DONE BOKKE 🏉

Congratulations to Coach Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks. Seven days after a 33-16 hiding at Ellis Park, the Springboks beat the All Blacks 33-26 at DHL Stadium to level Rugby's Greatest Rivalry at 1-1 with two Tests to play.

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🗣️ "They built the win in the first half and then defended it for forty minutes with the All Blacks coming at them — that is a Test match won twice!" – Jay
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Jesse Kriel scored inside the opening two minutes. That is how quickly the answer came.

Cam Roigard hit back on fifteen, Cheslin Kolbe landed a penalty on eighteen, and Damian de Allende went over on twenty-one. Damian McKenzie replied on twenty-nine. Siya Kolisi scored on thirty-seven.

Five tries and a penalty inside thirty-eight minutes, and the Springboks walked in at 24-14. That was the match won, even if nobody could say so yet.

🎙️ FULL STORY:
https://justplainsport.com/rugby/springboks-beat-all-blacks/

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🇿🇦 SPRINGBOKS VS ALL BLACKS🇳🇿
⏱️ FULL TIME | (Live Score Updates)

🚨STARING FRONT ROW UPDATE for THE BOKS vs the ALL BLACKS in the 2nd Test in Cape Town!