Some weekends you watch. This one you felt in your chest. On Friday night a Chiefs penalty clattered off the crossbar in Durban, and later that same night the champions of Africa were gone at Loftus. By Sunday afternoon, a long way out in the Indian Ocean, Durban City were celebrating a first in the club’s history.
This is our SA sport weekend review, and it starts with a strange new picture. South Africa’s place in African club football looks completely different on Monday morning from the way it looked on Friday afternoon.
And the rugby? The rugby gave us a 92-point thriller in Cape Town, a penalty on the hooter in Pretoria and a comeback in Cardiff. Tired yet? Good. Let us make sense of it.
The big weekend theme: an SA sport weekend review of Africa redrawn
Three South African clubs played for CAF group-stage places on Friday night, and a fourth waited for Sunday. When it was over, two were through and two were out. Few would have guessed which two.
Kaizer Chiefs did what they had to on the night and still went home. Bradley Cross headed the only goal of the second leg to level the tie at 1-1 on aggregate, and Red Arrows won the shoot-out 3-2, as The Citizen and iDiski Times reported. Our Chiefs v Red Arrows report has the misses, one by one.
Then Loftus. Mamelodi Sundowns, the holders, were ahead at half-time, but Wiliete equalised early in the second half and went through on away goals after a 1-1 draw, CAF confirms. TimesLIVE notes it is the first time since 2015 that Sundowns will miss the group stage. Our report from Loftus tells the story of that night.
The same evening, Orlando Pirates beat African Stars 4-0 for a 5-0 aggregate win, as our Pirates report sets out. On Sunday, Durban City won 3-0 in Mauritius, 6-1 over the two legs, and reached the Confederation Cup group stage in their first continental campaign, as the club and iDiski Times record.
So the flag-bearers are a Soweto giant and a club in its first CAF season. Nobody drew that map in August. Our view: reputations do not travel well in African football. Preparation and nerve do.
What we took from it
1. The best performance: the Stormers find a second wind at 40-40
Picture it. You lead 33-14 at half-time, at home, and with a quarter of an hour left the scoreboard reads 40-40. That was the Stormers on Saturday. The Scarlets scored twice early in the second half, and after Olly Reid stretched the lead back to 12, Joe Roberts completed his hat-trick and captain Josh Macleod also crossed to make it 40-40.
Plenty of teams fold there. The Stormers did not. Replacement Yaqeen Ahmed scored twice in the final ten minutes, the second after a loose ball was chased downfield, and the 52-40 win came with a bonus point, according to the Stormers and SA Rugby magazine. Our Stormers v Scarlets report has the full try count.
Our view: leaking 40 points at home is a worry for another week. Finding a way to win after watching a 19-point lead disappear is the kind of character that carries a team through a long season.
2. The nerve-settler: the Bulls hold Ulster off at the hooter
At Loftus, the Bulls led 21-7 at the break and then spent the second half learning how stubborn Ulster can be. Four tries each, and with about ten minutes left Ulster were within five points at 31-26, The Citizen reports.
Then came the moment that matters on a log. Curwin Bosch had already missed one long-range penalty on 74 minutes. On the final hooter he lined up another from distance and landed it: 34-26, and the losing bonus point Ulster had been holding went with it, according to The Citizen. Our Bulls v Ulster report shows how the scrum and the maul built the lead in the first place.
Our view: going for the posts at the hooter, rather than kicking the ball dead, is a small decision with a long tail. Those are the margins that decide play-off places.
3. The best away day: the Sharks change the ending in Cardiff
The Sharks were behind in the second half at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night, after James Botham scored twice for the home side. They answered with three more tries. Prop Thomas du Toit put them back in front, Ethan Bester added another, and Matt Romao finished it after the hooter: six tries to three, 36-21 and the full five points, as SA Rugby magazine and SuperSport report. Our Cardiff v Sharks report has the rest.
Not every franchise had a night to frame. The Lions lost 31-10 in Edinburgh, without a bonus point, as our Edinburgh v Lions report explains. The Sharks go to Munster in Limerick on Saturday carrying proof that they can turn a game around far from home.
4. The biggest concern: the Springbok Women’s lesson at Athlone
This one stung, and it should. The Springbok Women scored five tries against Ireland at Athlone Stadium on Saturday and still lost 27-40. Ireland scored six, and the difference sat in the details. SA Rugby’s own report points to unforced errors at crucial stages and lapses in defence, and says Ireland spent almost 60% of the match in the South African half.
That is the honest part. The hopeful part is that five tries against Ireland is no small thing, and the 3,709 at Athlone, by SA Rugby’s count, saw a side brave enough to keep attacking. Our Springbok Women v Ireland report has the detail.
The good news? There is a second chance, at the same ground, on Saturday. Fix the errors, keep the ball longer, and this series is not finished.
5. The one you may have missed: Arrows find a spark, and ten-man Siwelele hold on
While CAF took the headlines, the knockout cup’s last 16 opened on Saturday with two stories worth your time. Golden Arrows, days after parting ways with Pitso Dladla, beat Chippa United 4-0 at the King Zwelithini Stadium. New head coach Mandla Ncikazi was not on the bench; assistant Ashley Makhanya ran things from the technical area, SABC Sport and AfricaSoccer report. Four different scorers, and a five-match winless run over.
Later that evening Siwelele lost Aphiwe Baliti to a second yellow card late in extra time, held Polokwane City to 0-0 over 120 minutes and won the shoot-out, with goalkeeper Jody February saving twice, according to AfricaSoccer. Our Saturday cup recap has both ties.
Our view: Arrows needed that one badly. Four goals and a quarter-final place is quite a way to begin a new era.
What it means next
The week starts at Newlands. The third Test against Australia begins on Tuesday 27 October at 10:30, with the series level at 1-1 after Australia won in Durban and South Africa won by an innings in Gqeberha, and World Test Championship points at stake, according to cricket.com.au and the ICC. Our Newlands preview has the team news.
On Tuesday night at 19:00, the knockout cup’s last 16 brings Pirates against Milford, Chiefs against TS Galaxy at FNB Stadium and Sundowns against Marumo Gallants at Loftus. Durban City host Stellenbosch at Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday, also at 19:00, per the PSL fixture list.
Then Saturday 31 October, which is enormous. The Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs kicks off at 15:30 at FNB Stadium, according to the PSL. The Springbok Women meet Ireland again at Athlone. In the URC, the Stormers host Ulster at 14:45 and the Bulls host the Scarlets at 16:00, while the Sharks head to Limerick.
One weekend, and the whole conversation has changed. Pirates walk into the derby as South Africa’s last club in the Champions League. Chiefs walk in hurting. Sundowns, for once, are the team people feel sorry for. And in Durban, a club in its first CAF season is waiting to learn who it will meet in the group stage. Football in Mzansi never sits still. Saturday at 15:30 is coming fast.