🏅GERDA STEYN MAKES COMRADES HISTORY WITH RECORD-BREAKING FIFTH TITLE 🏃‍♀️ The Smiling Assassin told herself to run it as if she’d never get the chance again. Then she went out and broke the record. Gerda Steyn crossed the finish line at Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday morning in a time of 5:44:53, claiming her fifth Comrades Marathon title and smashing her own up-run record in the process. It was the kind of performance that makes you reach for superlatives and find none quite big enough.

🇿🇦 THE JUNIOR BOKS NAMED TO DEFEND THEIR CROWN IN GEORGIA 🏉 There is a peculiar kind of pressure that comes with defending a title. It is different from the pressure of trying to win one for the first time — quieter, more internal, built from the weight of what you already have rather than what you are still chasing. The Junior Springboks know that feeling now. They earned it in Rovigo last July, when they beat New Zealand 23-15 to end a 13-year wait for world junior supremacy. Now Georgia awaits, and SA U20 head coach Kevin Foote has named the squad tasked with doing it all again. What makes this particular group so compelling is not just what they are going to Georgia to defend. It is what several of them have already been asked to do before they even get there. 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #JustPlainSport #JuniorSpringboks #Rugby

Home crowd. Sold-out stadium. Four goals. Zero conceded. 🇿🇦🏑 The South African men put on a show at Hartleyvale tonight — a brilliant 4-0 win over the USA at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup. Davis, Mthalane (x2), and Meville on the scoresheet. Proud moment for South African hockey. #MoreThanHockey

💚💛 GOOD LUCK PROTEAS WOMEN! 💛💚 The ladies in green and gold are ready to take on the world! Sending all the best to our Proteas Women as they head into the T20 World Cup campaign — go out there and make South Africa proud! 🇿🇦🏏 Who’s backing the Proteas to go all the way? Sound off below 👇 #TheProteas #T20WorldCup #ProteasWomen #SAcricket #JustPlainSport

👏🏆A BIG YEAR FOR A SPRINGBOK LEGEND! 🔥🟡 Cheslin Kolbe absolutely lit up the Japan Rugby League One Awards 2025-26 with Suntory Sungoliath — Best Fifteen, Best Line-Breaker AND the Most Points Award. 💪 A clean sweep for one of the most electric players on the planet. Once a Springbok, always a Springbok. Congrats Cheslin, SA is proud of you! 🇿🇦💛 What’s your favourite Kolbe moment ever? Drop it below 👇 #CheslinKolbe #Springboks #JapanRugby #LeagueOne #JustPlainSport

⚡️SAM BLASKOWSKI CLOCKS 9.89 SECONDS TO GO SECOND FASTEST IN 2026🔥🔥🔥 Three weeks ago, Sam Blaskowski’s name sat on a results sheet nobody bothered reading. Five meets into his 2026 season, three of them at altitude, he hadn’t touched his personal best once. He hadn’t finished higher than third in any of them. If you’d told the track world he was about to become the second fastest man alive this season, they’d have laughed you out of the room. That’s the strange thing about Blaskowski’s career so far. Nobody was watching, and somehow that’s exactly how it kept working out for him. 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #JustPlainSport #SamBlaskowski #trackandfield

😱 BAFANA BAFANA EMBARRASS SOUTH AFRICA ON THE WORLD STAGE IN SHOCKING WORLD CUP OPENER ⚽️ Mexico 2-0 South Africa. And frankly, it was not that close. South Africa’s return to the FIFA World Cup — sixteen years after hosting the tournament — was supposed to mean something. Instead, what unfolded at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday was an embarrassment so complete that it was difficult to watch. Hugo Broos’ men looked flat before a ball was kicked, carried themselves like a team that had already accepted defeat, and played exactly that way for ninety minutes. Sphephelo Sithole gifted Julián Quiñones the opening goal inside nine minutes, losing possession near his own penalty area and allowing the Mexican to intercept and fire home. It was the perfect summary of what followed — no composure, no structure, no plan. At half-time, South Africa’s expected goals figure stood at a pitiful 0.06 against Mexico’s 0.66. That is not bad luck. That is a team with nothing to offer. The second half descended into farce. Sithole — who had already handed Mexico their first goal — then hauled down a Mexican attacker clean through on goal. Red card. South Africa down to ten men. Shortly after, veteran midfielder Themba Zwane, introduced from the bench, lashed out and caught Roberto Alvarado with his hand off the ball. The referee missed it initially, but VAR did not. Another red card, and Bafana Bafana were down to nine men. South Africa’s sustained cynicism throughout the match eventually provoked a response from the hosts. César Montes lost his composure chasing down a South African forward and was sent off for a reckless full-body tackle denying a goalscoring opportunity. It made this the first World Cup opening match in history to feature three red cards. For all the wrong reasons, Bafana Bafana made history. By the final stages, Mexico were rotating freely and managing minutes. A co-host nation had stopped playing. South Africa, with nine men, were just trying to get through it.

KWAGGA SMITH TURNS 33 🇿🇦 THE ANIMAL THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO EXIST 💪 There is a theory in South African rugby that certain players don’t fit the template. Too small, too light, not quite a six, not quite a seven, not quite a traditional eight. A different species entirely. Kwagga Smith has spent his entire career proving that theory wrong — or rather, proving that the template was always the problem, not the player. Born on this very day, 11 June 1993, in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga, he turns 33 today. Twice a Rugby World Cup champion. One hundred and fifty-eight appearances for the Blitzboks. A farm, a family, two gold medals, and a name that was never really supposed to stick. What a life. Happy Birthday, Kwagga. They said you were too small. The world disagrees. 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #JustPlainSport #KwaggaSmith #Springboks #HappyBirthday