Six wickets to survive a whole day in Durban, a Premiership round three days after the MTN8 final, and Banyana one leg away from the next Olympic round.
Author: Lehlohonolo Scheepers
Lehlohonolo Scheepers
Lehlohonolo writes about South African sport for a living and thinks about it the rest of the time — football, rugby, cricket. Match reports, previews, profiles, the features that take a week. He is the reason ScoreLine's copy is clear, and the reason it gets checked twice before it reaches you. He supports Kaizer Chiefs, so he understands better than most that a result is never just a result. Gold and black, every weekend, no matter what the table says.
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Australia declared at tea and set a world-record 421. By stumps the Proteas were 102/4, with Aiden Markram unbeaten on 45 and 319 still needed on the final day.
One save kept Sundowns ahead as the Pirates’ four-year MTN8 hold ended, the Bulls ran in nine tries, the Sharks were down to 13 in Cape Town and the Proteas fell behind in Durban. Here is what it all meant.
With Sundowns 1-0 up, Gamphani Lungu had the chance to drag the MTN8 final level. Ronwen Williams went low to his left, and the night never tilted back towards Pirates.
Two coastal derby defeats in January sat heavy for eight months. A bonus-point night in the 1999 throwback black, with Siya Kolisi at blindside, changed the mood. An unashamedly Stormers view.
Sundowns and Pirates go again three days after the MTN8 final, Chiefs defend an unbeaten start and Eric Tinkler walks straight into a derby. All four matches kick off at 19:30 SAST.
Every Test against Australia is worth 12 points, and with only 14 Tests in this cycle the Proteas feel each result more than most. Here is the percentage maths for Kingsmead and St George’s Park.
The Sharks began the second half with two men in the sin bin, the Stormers won every scrum on their own ball, and Hacjivah Dayimani’s double sealed a 39-22 derby win in Cape Town.
Cameron Hanekom scored twice while the Lions were a man down, and the Bulls ran in nine tries to beat the previously unbeaten Lions 57-15 at Loftus Versfeld.
Matt Renshaw batted almost the whole day for a career-best 190, Australia recovered from 124/6 to 390, and the Proteas lost Ryan Rickelton before bad light ended play for a second evening running.