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Mallett warns Boks: All Blacks never give up
Nick Mallett says the Springboks can’t afford to relax against an All Blacks side that never stops attacking.
Speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, Mallett stressed the psychological stakes riding on the fourth and final Test in Baltimore, with coach Rassie Erasmus eyeing a statement 3-1 series victory.
“He wants it to be 3-1 and the All Blacks will be absolutely delighted with 2-2. There is a helluva lot riding on this Test, there are bragging rights,” Mallett said. macnevers-and-co.beer
“There’s also mental pressure which coaches want to put on the opposition. Get doubt in their minds, make them think how are they going to beat South Africa. ‘We’ve had opportunities in the four Test matches. We won the first one but lost the next three.’
“That World Cup quarter-final [next year] springs to mind straight away. They’ll go in there feeling less confident if we win on Saturday in Baltimore.”
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Mallett also cautioned that South Africa’s route to tries remains far less fluent than New Zealand’s, even if the results have favoured the Boks.
“We don’t score tries with the ease, grace and skill that they do … not even close. We do score tries utilising our strengths like the scrums, driving mauls, direct,” he said.
“Look at [André] Esterhuizen running over [Josh] Moorby and [Jesse] Kriel and [Damian] de Allende running over [Leroy] Carter. It’s not Kolbe-esque with a beautiful step or a lovely pass – the All Blacks do that all the time.”
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The former Bok coach’s biggest concern, however, is New Zealand’s refusal to buckle under pressure.
“There’s not a moment where you can say they’re out of the game. They never give up,” Mallett said.
POLL: Who will win Baltimore battle?
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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Ligue des champions : Liverpool s’impose face à l’Atlético, Barcola inquiète, Arsenal s’offre Naples
Liverpool a réussi ses débuts en Ligue des champions, mais la victoire a été ternie par la sortie sur blessure de Bradley Barcola. Opposés à l’Atlético de Madrid, les Reds se sont imposés (2-1) au terme d’une rencontre disputée. Dans le même temps, Arsenal a réalisé l’une des belles opérations de la soirée en allant battre Naples (1-0). Le Sporting Portugal a également lancé sa campagne européenne par une victoire contre Galatasaray (3-1), tandis que le PSG a largement dominé le Slovan Bratislava (6-1).
Liverpool s’impose, Barcola sort blessé
Pour sa première titularisation sous le maillot de Liverpool, Bradley Barcola a connu une soirée contrastée. Aligné sur le côté droit, l’international français s’est montré dangereux à plusieurs reprises, mais a manqué d’efficacité dans le dernier geste, notamment sur deux occasions en première période.
L’Atlético avait pourtant pris les devants grâce à Marcos Llorente. Les Reds ont rapidement réagi avec Dominik Szoboszlai, avant qu’Alexis Mac Allister ne donne l’avantage aux Anglais au retour des vestiaires. Barcola a ensuite eu une nouvelle grosse occasion, sans parvenir à conclure.
Quelques minutes plus tard, l’ancien joueur du PSG a toutefois dû céder sa place. Touché et visiblement gêné dans ses déplacements, il a quitté la pelouse en boitant à l’heure de jeu. Liverpool devra désormais attendre les examens médicaux pour connaître la nature exacte et la gravité de sa blessure.
Arsenal frappe fort à Naples
Arsenal a, de son côté, signé une victoire de prestige sur la pelouse de Naples. Dominateurs dans le jeu, les Gunners ont longtemps buté sur une défense italienne bien en place et sur un Alex Meret particulièrement inspiré.
Les hommes de Mikel Arteta ont finalement trouvé l’ouverture à la 75e minute. Après une combinaison avec ses partenaires, Martin Ødegaard a déclenché une frappe sèche depuis l’extérieur de la surface pour inscrire l’unique but de la rencontre.
Avec ce succès (1-0), Arsenal réalise donc une entrée en matière idéale et confirme d’emblée ses ambitions dans cette nouvelle campagne européenne.
Le Sporting renverse Galatasaray, le PSG régale
Le Sporting Portugal a également dû renverser une situation mal engagée face à Galatasaray. Mené après un but contre son camp de Gonçalo Inácio, le club lisboète a réagi pour finalement s’imposer (3-1). Geovany Quenda a remis les deux équipes à égalité, avant que Luis Suárez, sur penalty, puis Rodrigo Zalazar, d’un superbe coup franc, ne permettent aux Portugais de prendre définitivement les commandes.
De son côté, le PSG a signé le carton de la soirée en dominant largement le Slovan Bratislava (6-1). Ousmane Dembélé a inscrit un doublé, tandis que Ferran Torres s’est offert un triplé. Une première soirée particulièrement prolifique, marquée par plusieurs résultats importants et, à Liverpool, une inquiétude désormais centrée sur l’état de santé de Bradley Barcola.
Les résultats de 21 heures
- PSG 6-1 Slovan Bratislava : Dembélé (x2), Ferran Torres (x3), Fabian Ruiz / Suleiman Camara
- Liverpool 2-1 Atlético de Madrid : Szoboszlai, Mac Allister / Llorente
- Naples 0-1 Arsenal : Ødegaard
- Sporting Portugal 3-1 Galatasaray : Quenda, Luis Suárez, Zalazar / Inácio (csc)
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Welcome to the Colosseum: Inside Track and Field’s High-Stakes Budapest Revolution
Under the piercing gaze of a concert-grade lighting rig, track and field as we have known it for a century ceases to exist.
Gone is the sprawling, sun-baked sprawl of a week-long championship packed with heats, repechages, and diplomatic country quotas. In its place sits a dramatic, obsidian-black infield inside Budapest’s National Athletics Centre. Live music acts kick off the evening warm-ups. Stadium announcers conduct centre-court-style interviews directly on the apron, their voices echoing through an arena built for spectacle. The event takes place across three evening sessions, each capped under three hours, with $10 million in prize money on the line and $150,000 awaiting each winner alongside the Ultimate Champion trophy.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship has stripped away the polite conventions of international sport. Qualification is ruthless: Paris 2024 Olympic champions, Tokyo 2025 world champions, Diamond League victors, and only the highest-ranked athletes on the planet. With national entry caps thrown out the window, nations can unleash their entire stable if their marks warrant it.
Six South Africans have fought through that unforgiving sieve. When they step onto the track, they won’t find warm-up rounds or soft lanes, only the most brutally concentrated fields ever assembled.
Men’s 100m: The Sub-10 Massacre
The South Africans: Gift Leotlela (Rank 6 | SB: 9.91) & Akani Simbine (Rank 11 | SB: 9.93)
There are no gentle heats to shake out the cobwebs. Straight into two eight-man semi-finals, the numbers read like a video game: 15 of the 16 men in the field have broken 10 seconds this season, with seven dipping below 9.90.
The United States has taken full advantage of the abolished country caps, landing a four-headed juggernaut in Kenneth Bednarek (9.87 SB), Ronnie Baker (9.88 SB), Christian Coleman (9.90 SB), and Trayvon Bromell (9.91 SB). Add Jamaica’s world leader Oblique Seville (9.82 SB), Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.83 SB), Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi (9.84 SB), and Olympic 200m king Letsile Tebogo (9.95 SB), and merely reaching the final requires championship-winning form.
For South Africa, Akani Simbine brings his peerless lane-racing pedigree. Entering as world number 11 with a 9.93 season’s best, Simbine knows how to navigate cut-throat company. Beside him, Gift Leotlela arrives in career-defining form, ranked sixth globally off a blistering 9.91 SB that puts him right in the mix for the top four. On this track, one stutter in the drive phase means finishing sixth in a semi-final while running 9.95.
Men’s 200m: The 19-Second Gauntlet
The South African: Sinesipho Dambile (Rank 3 | SB: 19.74)
If the 100m is an explosion, the half-lap in Budapest is a masterclass in sustained violence. Ten men in this 16-sprinter field have run sub-20 seconds this season. More remarkably, Budapest has secured the undisputed top four 200m runners in the world: world number one Kenny Bednarek (19.62 SB), South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile (19.74 SB), Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (19.84 SB), and Jamaican phenom Bryan Levell (19.93 SB).
Dambile has elevated himself into sprinting’s elite tier this season. His 19.74 personal and season’s best anchors him at third in the global rankings, meaning he carries legitimate target status on his back. Surviving the semi-finals to reach the eight-man showdown means staring down veteran championship scavengers like Olympic champion Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, and Puerto Rico’s fast-rising José Figueroa (19.76 SB). Dambile’s bend-running will need to be razor-sharp to earn a lane in the middle of the track for the final.
Men’s 400m: Straight to the Fire
The South African: Zakithi Nene (Rank 2 | SB: 43.89)
There are no semi-finals in the 400m. Ten men walk into the call room, strap in, and run for the money.
To comprehend the madness of this single race: six of the ten starters have run under 44 seconds this year. Botswana’s Busang Collen Kebinatshipi leads the world with a scorching 43.40, flanked by Trinidad’s Jereem Richards (43.68), Jacory Patterson (43.78), Rai Benjamin (43.83), and Chris Bailey (43.97).
South Africa’s Zakithi Nene steps into the blocks as the world’s second-ranked quarter-miler. Nene’s 43.76 lifetime best and 43.89 season mark reflect an athlete at his peak, possessing the tactical poise to pace the back straight and kick off the final bend. In an all-out sprint featuring Olympic silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith and Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, the margins between walking away as the $150,000 champion and finishing off the podium will be counted in hundredths of a second.
Women’s 800m: The Historic Middle-Distance Squeeze
The South African: Prudence Sekgodiso (Rank 10 | SB: 1:56.83)
The two-lap event in Budapest features a line-up where every single entrant has dipped below 1:59. Five women have run under 1:57, and three have rewritten history by crashing beneath the mythical 1:55 barrier: Swiss revelation Audrey Werro (1:53.70 SB), British superstar Keely Hodgkinson (1:54.33 SB), and Dutch phenomenon Femke Broeders-Bol (1:54.71 SB).
Prudence Sekgodiso has shown that her front-running bravado can break races wide open. Holding a 1:56.83 season’s best and sitting tenth in the world rankings, Sekgodiso faces a tactical dilemma. With two semi-finals dictating who survives into the ultimate eight-woman decider, the pace will be honest from the gun. Sekgodiso’s strength lies in her relentless kick off a stiff rhythm, but she will have to trade elbows against seasoned championship racers like Rénelle Lamote, Shafiqua Maloney, and former world champion Halimah Nakaayi.
Women’s 100m Hurdles: Stepping in Front of a Hurricane
The South African: Marioné Fourie (Rank 16 | SB: 12.59)
Ten barriers, 100 metres, zero room for forgiveness. The hurdles field in Budapest is headlined by American sensation Masai Russell, who arrives as the world record holder after a historic 12.09 clocking. Right alongside her sits former world record holder Tobi Amusan (12.23 SB), world indoor champion Devynne Charlton (12.33 SB), and a deep American cohort including Alaysha Johnson, Alia Armstrong, and Kendra Harrison.
For national record holder Marioné Fourie (12.49 PB, 12.59 SB), entering this semi-final is an audition against track royalty. At this level, clipping a single hurdle spells instant elimination. Fourie’s trademark clean rhythm between barriers gives her a puncher’s chance, but she will need to flirt with her national record just to punch a ticket into the big dance.
The Verdict
Budapest has dispensed with the slow burn. By concentrating the world’s most gifted athletes onto a dark track, under high-intensity spotlights, and offering the biggest payout in the sport’s ledger, the Ultimate Championship is built to be unforgiving.
For Simbine, Leotlela, Dambile, Nene, Sekgodiso, and Fourie, the task is clear: survive the opening 90 minutes of the championship, match the world’s fiercest paces blow for blow, and claim their share of track and field’s bold new era.
For More South African Sports News: Sport South Africa Home Page
For More South African Athletics News: Athletics
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Tahir, 47, rewrites record books in CPL demolition
The former Proteas spinner ripped through Saint Lucia Kings with 5-17 to put Guyana Amazon Warriors on course for victory.
At 47, Imran Tahir remains a handful, leaving another batting line-up searching for answers.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors captain claimed 5-17 against Saint Lucia Kings on Wednesday, 9 September, setting up a four-wicket win in the Caribbean Premier League.
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The Kings were cruising at 51-1 after six overs before their innings unravelled, with seven wickets falling for just 19 runs.
Tahir trapped Kamil Pooran and Roston Chase lbw, bowled McKenny Clarke and Matthew Forde, then dismissed Joshua Bishop to complete his five-wicket haul.
Imran Tahir – The oldest player to take a five-wicket haul in T20 Cricket. pic.twitter.com/gqBgPzevio
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) September 10, 2026
Obus Pienaar fought back with 35, sharing a 38-run last-wicket stand with Maheesh Theekshana before Tahir held the catch that ended the innings on 119.
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Guyana made hard work of the chase until Quentin Sampson smashed five sixes in an unbeaten 37 from 11 balls.
The Warriors reached 122-6 with nine deliveries remaining, securing a top-of-the-table finish on another memorable night for their veteran captain.
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Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images
The post Tahir, 47, rewrites record books in CPL demolition appeared first on SA Cricket Mag.