Purging a bulging e-mail inbox, Oddballs stumbled upon this gem from Boland Rugby. “In an authentic show of respect and reverence for the spiritual and cultural fabric of the Boland community, Boland Rugby will host a special prayer service at Boland Stadium ahead of every Boland Cavaliers home fixture during the 2025 Currie Cup season,” stated the e-mail about their Sunday matches.
This begs so many questions. There is no mention of communion or whether some of the region’s finest will be made available. This has the making of a less than delightful wine and wafer pairing. Who will ascend to cloud nine in the battle for the starting scrumhalf berth, Godlen Masimla or Chriswill September?
While this initiative could provide an enthusiastic vibe inside the stadium, heaven knows if the home team’s prayers will be answered by the final whistle.
Nkosi’s ‘Arrr!’
The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) has caused consternation among some of the city’s sports clubs and recreational spaces as it reviews lease agreements. Though the JPC has sought to reassure entities, and some clubs are in better standing with them than others, Lions’ Currie Cup coach Mziwakhe Nkosi took no chances when quizzed on the topic.
“I think Pirates is probably the best sports club in the country. This is my biased opinion. Clubs like Pirates are a home for the community. It brings the community together. It encourages engagement. I think it is really important, and I’m one of those on a petition to keep institutions like that alive. I, for one, would like to think my sons will play Bulletjie rugby [typically for six to eight-year-olds] there. Hopefully it stays alive.”
When Walaza rhymes with pizza
The name of sprint star Bayanda Walaza has baffled the commentator on the FISU World Student Games streaming platform, pronouncing the Z as TS — like we do when saying pizza. We look forward to the broadcaster trying to get his tongue around the name of another of South Africa’s sprint brigade down the line, Retshidisitswe Mlenga, who this week became the fourth local speedster to run a sub-10 this year, clocking 9.99sec in Austria.
Sniping at Snape
Australian winger Harry Potter has disagreed with England’s World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward for saying the Wallabies had a losing mentality. Oddballs has to wonder (perhaps in this case it’s wand-er), if Sir Clive is actually rugby’s version of Snape.
Mzansi’s medals mystery
Such was the chaotic organisation of the African age-group athletics championships in Nigeria that South African officials, wanting to know how many medals they won, messaged the team members asking to let them know who had scaled the podium. A week since the showpiece ended, and we’re still waiting for an accurate medals table.
Dirty disqualification
The South African team management protested after the mixed 4x400m relay, when Tumi Ramokgopa had gone down on the final leg while being overtaken by a Nigerian. Ramokgopa got up to finish the race in second place. But the competition organisers, after assessing the protest, decided to disqualify the South African team.
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