🎂 STRAEULI: CAPPED AT THIRTY — BECOMES WORLD CUP WINNER, BOK COACH & LIONS CEO 🏉 He was six years old and a ball boy at Loftus when he first set foot on a rugby field, and thirty before Kitch Christie handed him a Springbok jersey — then he scored a try on debut against the All Blacks at Carisbrook 🇿🇦 Four tries in ten Tests. Two seasons at Petrarca Padova while South Africa was locked out of world rugby. Currie Cup titles with Transvaal in 1993 and 1994. On the field at Ellis Park on 24 June 1995, on for Mark Andrews in extra time, when Joel Stransky dropped the goal. Twelve years after resigning as Springbok coach with no job left in the game, he was running the Lions. ⸻ 🗣️ "Two things stop most careers dead — starting too late and ending in disgrace. Straeuli had both, and he is still standing at Ellis Park at 63!" – Jay ⸻ 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #RudolfStraeuli #Springboks #RWC1995 #LionsRugby #EllisPark #JustPlainSport 🎙️

🇿🇦🔥 Congratulations to the South African men’s field hockey team! Ranked only 14th in the world, they held the powerful World No. 4 Australia to a thrilling 2-2 draw at the FIH Hockey World Cup — a massive result for the underdogs! M. Cassiem scored both goals 💥 pure heart and fight from the boys. Proud of this performance 💪🔥 #JustPlainSport #SouthAfrica #Hockey #FIHWorldCup #HockeyWorldCup2026

🇿🇦 RASSIE NAMES HIS BOK TEAM FOR ALL BLACKS AT ELLIS PARK 🏉 Only Eben Etzebeth and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu keep their starting jerseys from Argentina. Ox Nche is back from injury, three-cap Paul de Villiers gets the six jersey, and Siya Kolisi waits. 👀 ⸻ 🗣️ "Rassie spent eight years building the depth of this side and now he finally gets to apply them four weekends in a row!" – 🎙️Jay ⸻ 15 Damian Willemse 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9 Grant Williams 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain) 6 Paul de Villiers 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Wilco Louw 2 Malcolm Marx 1 Ox Nche 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #RSAvNZL #Springboks #AllBlacks #SouthAfrica #JustPlainSport 🎙️

🎂 THE MALMESBURY MISSILE WHO NEVER SLOWS DOWN 🏉 Pieter-Steph du Toit turns 34 today. In February 2020 a thigh injury against the Blues became acute compartment syndrome — he lost 10kg and his left leg wasted to half its size. 🇿🇦 Fourteen months of rehab on the family farm in the Riebeek Valley. Then 28 tackles and Player of the Match in a World Cup final, and a second World Rugby Player of the Year award nobody from this country had ever won twice. ⸻ 🗣️ "Ask which Springbok has paid the most for his caps and there's no argument. He's played a decade of Test rugby doing the work that never makes the highlights reel!" – Jay ⸻ 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #PieterStephduToit #Springboks #MalmesburyMissile #JustPlainSport 🎙️

🇿🇦 MARX'S 17 ALL BLACKS TESTS WILL BE CRUCIAL FOR BOKS 🏉 Seventeen Tests against the All Blacks. Seven wins, one draw, nine losses. Malcolm Marx knows this fight better than anyone in green, and Rassie is asking him for 65 minutes and up at Ellis Park on Saturday. 🗣️ "Seventeen Tests in the bag against the All Blacks and he still says if I'm selected — that's exactly why he keeps getting selected!" – Jay No counting on the jersey, no leaning on Wellington, no making Saturday about himself — just the 64 or 65 million people he says the Boks are carrying. 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #RSAvNZL #Springboks #AllBlacks #SouthAfrica #EllisPark #JustPlainSport 🎙️

🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA ENTERS THE U20 WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 🤼 The U20 World Wrestling Championships hit Bratislava this week, and South Africa is in the field — Slade Shadowshot at 79kg Freestyle, with the men's programme running 20 to 23 August. 🇿🇦 Six-minute bouts. Knockout brackets. Repechage. Here's what the tournament actually is, and where South African wrestling stands in it. ⸻ 🗣️ "Ask a South African to name a Springbok loose forward and they'll give you four. Ask them to name a South African wrestler and you get silence — that's the gap this tournament exposes!" – 🎙️Jay ⸻ Everything You Need To Know Here ⬇️ https://justplainsport.com/more-sports/u20-world-wrestling-championships/ #U20WorldChampionships #Wrestling #Bratislava #SouthAfrica #JustPlainSport 🎙️

🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILLIE LE ROUX! THE MAVERICK WHO OUTLASTED EVERY CRITIC 🇿🇦 Willem Jacobus le Roux turns 37 today. From the Boland Cavaliers and a Currie Cup First Division title, to Kimberley, to a Springbok debut against Italy in Durban in 2013. Written off at home, then a Premiership record 21 try assists at Wasps. Two World Cup winner's medals. And on 12 July 2025, his 100th Test — against Italy again — as only the eighth Springbok centurion. He played the 2019 knockouts with a shoulder injury he never made public, and offered to step aside. Rassie kept him in. Happy Birthday, Willie. 🎂 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com #WillieLeRoux #Springboks #Bulls #Rugby #JustPlainSport

🇿🇦 CORBETT CLAIMS 200M BREASTSTROKE BRONZE AT PAN PACS 🏊‍♀️ Kaylene Corbett touched third in 2:22.97 in Irvine — her fastest 200m breaststroke at any major championship, and a third straight medal in thirteen months. 🥉 She led Kate Douglass turning for home. The Olympic champion closed in 36.93 to take silver by four tenths. Corbett still finished clear of the rest of the field. ⸻ 🗣️ "Corbett has spent a decade being the other name in the lane, and she has now medalled at three straight major championships. Nobody hands you that!" – Jay ⸻ 🎙️ FULL STORY on JustPlainSport .com 📸 Images via Kaylene Corbett IG / Team SA #PanPacs2026 #KayleneCorbett #Swimming #SouthAfrica #JustPlainSport 🎙️