Tuesday of a very big week, and you can feel it building. A Test at Kingsmead on Friday. Two URC derbies and a sold-out cup final on Saturday. A young Bafana side still warm from Cairo. We start with the Anrich Nortje Test recall, because a fast bowler coming home is the best kind of story.
1. The Big One: the Anrich Nortje Test recall and a week of waiting
Nortje last played a Test in 2023. He spent the years since in white-ball cricket, and the red ball waited. Now he is in the 18-man preliminary squad for the first Test against Australia, which starts at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday 9 October. As Business Day reported on Monday, he has worked deliberately on his red-ball skills, and Test cricket is the format he wanted to play growing up and still the one that drives his training. The Proteas need him. Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka and Ottneil Baartman have been ruled out with hamstring problems, and Kagiso Rabada is still proving his fitness after a hamstring injury of his own. The 18 is due to become 15. When we checked this morning, Cricket South Africa had not published the final squad, so we are not guessing it. Meet the Proteas Test side.
2. The Matchday Move: a Saturday derby double
Saturday 10 October hands South African rugby a derby double. The Bulls host the Lions at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, and the Stormers welcome the Sharks to DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Four franchises, two grudges, one day: highveld pride on one side of the country, coastal bragging rights on the other. A word on kick-off times. The clubs have published theirs, but we check every time against the URC’s own listing in SAST before we print it, and that check is not done yet. Confirmed times follow once that check is done. The Bulls, their story so far.
3. The Talking Point: are the Sharks for real?
The Sharks sit top of the URC on 10 points after two wins from two, and they go to Cape Town as the side everyone else is chasing. The Stormers are eighth on six points, according to the Sharks’ own match page, and a home derby is the quickest way to change a mood. Our view: two rounds is far too early to crown anyone. But a win at DHL Stadium would make this Sharks start very hard to wave away. So which is it, the real thing or a hot fortnight? Beyond the Score on what the Sharks’ start means.
4. The Stat That Matters: four
Four. That is how many seasons in a row Orlando Pirates have won the MTN8. On Saturday 10 October at 18:00 SAST they defend the trophy against Mamelodi Sundowns at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, and the PSL has confirmed the final is officially sold out. No tickets will be sold at the stadium and only digital tickets get you in, so if yours is not on your phone, it is a couch night. Pirates have the cup habit. Sundowns want to break it. That tension is the whole final. Orlando Pirates, the club behind the run.
5. The One to Watch: Mosimane’s new faces
Bafana Bafana came home from Cairo with a win over Egypt, their third in a row under Pitso Mosimane, and SAFA says he did it after making sweeping changes to his line-up. That is the part worth watching. Several players who had not featured in the recent AFCON qualifiers got their chance against one of Africa’s heavyweights, on Egypt’s own turf. The coach now has more names pushing for places than he had a week ago, and that is a good problem. For the result and the reaction, read The Final Whistle.
So, the braai question for the week: if you could be in only one place on Saturday, is it Loftus, Cape Town or Moses Mabhida? Pick one, and tell us why. Fluit has already packed three scarves.