2026-27 URC preview: Bulls

Having lost four URC finals in five seasons, the Bulls will be desperate to finally lift the trophy next year, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.

Their 36-7 defeat to Leinster in the 2026 final in Dublin was particularly disappointing given they were at full strength, on an eight-match winning streak in the competition and had supposedly learned from defeat at Croke Park the year before. Yet they again started poorly, allowing Leinster to race into a commanding lead, while their big-name Springboks failed to deliver.

However, it is worth remembering that, at one stage of the 2025-26 campaign, the Bulls were on a seven-match losing streak across competitions and sat 11th on the URC log. Had coach Johan Ackermann been offered a fourth-place finish and a place in the final at that point, he would have snapped it up. musojam.blog

The Bulls bid farewell to three key Springboks in June – tighthead prop Wilco Louw, lock Ruan Nortjé and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse – as well as utility back David Kriel, who attended a Bok alignment camp but never wore the green and gold. However, they lured experienced loose forward Hanro Liebenberg (who can also play lock) back to Pretoria from the Leicester Tigers, while signing wings Thaakir Abrahams from Munster and Dylan Maart, who impressed for the Stormers while on loan from Griquas last season.

With Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard set to miss large parts of the URC campaign because of Test commitments, the Bulls recruited former Bok flyhalf Curwin Bosch from Brive and 20-year-old Junior Bok Luan Giliomee, who made two URC appearances for the Sharks last season. Both are also capable of playing fullback.

To finally win the URC, the Bulls will almost certainly need to finish top of the log and host the final. That means making a fast start, and they have a good opportunity to do so with an away match against last season’s wooden spoonists, Zebre, followed by Munster, who they beat at Loftus in last season’s quarter-finals. They then host three successive matches before three away South African derbies that could determine whether Ackermann’s men make history or are condemned to repeat it.

FACT FILE
Coach: Johan Ackermann
Captain: Marcell Coetzee
2025-26 log finish: 4th (finalists)

ONE TO WATCH
The signing of Curwin Bosch on a three-year deal gives the Bulls another experienced option at flyhalf and fullback. The 29-year-old, who earned two Springbok caps in 2017 and 2018, arrived in Pretoria in July after a two-season stint with French Pro D2 club Brive. Bosch previously played for the Sharks from 2016 to 2023 and also had a short spell in Japan with the Munakata Sanix Blues in 2018. Known for his tactical kicking game and accuracy off the tee, Bosch has said he is returning to South Africa as a more mature player who embraces pressure rather than fears it. He will no doubt be hoping to force his way back into the Bok squad, although the Bulls would prefer that not to happen during the 2026-27 URC season, with first-choice flyhalf Handré Pollard set to miss several matches because of international duty.

FAST FACT
The Bulls scored the most points in last season’s URC (640), including the second-most tries (92).

PLAYERS IN
Thaakir Abrahams (Munster)
Curwin Bosch (Brive)
Luan Giliomee (Sharks)
Hakeem Kunene (Sharks)
Hanro Liebenberg (Leicester)
Dylan Maart (Griquas)
Mawande Mdanda (Sharks)
Sango Xamlashe (Pumas)

ALSO: Bulls, Lions to borrow Griquas hookers

PLAYERS OUT
Kurt-Lee Arendse (Sagamihara Dynaboars)
Johan Goosen (retired)
Henry Immelman (Cheetahs)
Jannes Kirsten (Mont-de-Marsan)
David Kriel (La Rochelle)
Wilco Louw (Stormers)
Ruan Nortjé (Kubota Spears)
Jan Serfontein (retired)

PRE-SEASON: Bulls claim bragging rights in Paarl

URC FIXTURES
26 September: Zebre (a)
3 October: Munster (a)
10 October: Lions (h)
24 October: Ulster (h)
31 October: Scarlets (h)
5 December: Lions (a)
19 December: Sharks (a)
3 January: Stormers (a)
23 January: Benetton (a)
30 January: Leinster (a)
21 February: Stormers (h)
27 February: Sharks (h)
20 March: Dragons (h)
27 March: Edinburgh (h)
17 April: Ospreys (a)
23 April: Cardiff (a)
8 May: Glasgow (h)
15 May: Connacht (h)

The boys describe the 2026/27 home kit in one word.

Let us know yours . pic.twitter.com/Csxvq2olyB

— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) August 26, 2026

Photo: Vodacom Bulls

The post 2026-27 URC preview: Bulls appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Leeds United reçoit Newcastle ce lundi soir à Elland Road pour la 4e journée de Premier League. Avec cinq points chacun après trois journées, les deux équipes abordent cette affiche avec l’ambition de prendre l’avantage et de se rapprocher des premières places.

Leeds a plutôt bien lancé sa saison avec une victoire et deux nuls. Toujours invaincu en championnat, le promu veut désormais franchir un nouveau cap en décrochant un deuxième succès. À domicile, les hommes de Daniel Farke pourront compter sur l’appui d’Elland Road pour tenter de faire la différence.

Leeds veut confirmer

Les locaux restent néanmoins sur une sortie difficile en Coupe de la Ligue, avec une lourde défaite face à Chelsea malgré une bonne entame de rencontre. En championnat, Leeds s’est montré plus solide et a réussi à prendre des points lors de ses trois premières journées.

Face aux hommes de Farke, Newcastle présente le même bilan comptable. Les Magpies ont également remporté une rencontre et concédé deux nuls depuis le début de la Premier League. Ils restent sur un succès en Coupe de la Ligue contre Millwall (1-0) et espèrent désormais décrocher leur première victoire à l’extérieur en championnat.

Un duel très équilibré

Difficile donc de désigner un véritable favori avant le coup d’envoi. Leeds bénéficie de l’avantage du terrain, tandis que Newcastle possède davantage d’expérience au plus haut niveau. Les deux équipes ont surtout l’occasion de réaliser une bonne opération au classement.

Une victoire permettrait au vainqueur de prendre une première avance sur son adversaire et de confirmer ses ambitions pour la suite de la saison.

Le coup d’envoi de Leeds-Newcastle sera donné à 20h00 à Elland Road, en clôture de cette 4e journée de Premier League.

The post Leeds-Newcastle : un duel indécis à Elland Road appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.

Brin Jarvis, Lila Aszalos and Max Kauffman claimed the U14, U16 and U18 girls titles respectively when the 2026 Sea Harvest Cape Crown concluded at Kommetjie in Cape Town on Sunday, 13 September 2026.

The three day event, which ran from 11 to 13 September, marked the tenth edition of the popular SA Surf Tour contest and formed part of celebrations marking the ten year partnership between Sea Harvest and Surfing South Africa. Just under 100 surfers in the U12 to U18 divisions took part.

Sarah Baum Solidifies her Africa QS Lead as Kirra Pinkerton Takes Ballito Open Title

The Sea Harvest Cape Crown is the fifth of six events that make up the 2026 SA Surf Tour. Every tour event offers a total of R35 000 in prize money, split equally between the finalists in the girls and boys divisions, and every competitor earns ratings points that determine the 2026 tour results.

Host district Cape Town Surfriders assisted Surfing South Africa in presenting the tournament, which was supported by Island Tribe and Lifestyle Surf Shop.

The event opened with a welcome function at Fisherman’s Restaurant in Kommetjie on Thursday 10 September at 18h00, and Open Plan Pictures livestreamed all three days of competition.

Jarvis ruled the three-surfer U14 girls division from start to finish, posting a 12.00 total to win Round 1 by 8.9 before sealing the title in the final with 11.00, ahead of Kayla Bone on 4.83 and Emma Loggenberg on 1.00. The champion’s weekend did not end there, as she doubled up in the U16 division and surfed all the way to the final.

In the U16 girls division, Aszalos set the tone from her opening heat, posting a 10.73 total to win Round 1 Heat 1, while Jasmine Venter took Heat 2 with 8.40. Jarvis recovered from fourth in her opening heat to win Round 2 with 7.17, then backed it up by winning semifinal Heat 2 ahead of Charlotte Copson.

Aszalos dominated semifinal Heat 1 with 10.17 before sealing the title in the final with 10.56, ahead of Copson on 8.46, Jarvis on 4.40 and Zahra Ndlovu on 4.00.

The U18 girls division opened on Friday with Nina Bone edging Kauffman by 0.4 in Heat 1, while Aszalos stepped up an age group to win Heat 2 with an 11.00 total. Copson won Round 2 with 9.60 to keep her campaign alive. Tallulah Golding took semifinal Heat 1 ahead of Sophia Jackson, and Aszalos produced the highest heat total of the division, 13.34, to win semifinal Heat 2 from Kauffman.

Kauffman saved her best for the final, combining scores of 6.50 and 7.33 for a 13.83 total to win by 7.1, the most emphatic margin of the weekend. Jackson finished second on 6.73, with Aszalos third on 5.77 and Golding fourth on 5.43.

Results at the 2026 Sea Harvest Cape Crown, at Kommetjie on 13 September, 2026

U14 Girls Final

1. Brin Jarvis 11.00
2. Kayla Bone 4.83
3. Emma Loggenberg 1.00

U16 Girls Final

1. Lila Aszalos 10.56
2. Charlotte Copson 8.46
3. Brin Jarvis 4.40
4. Zahra Ndlovu 4.00

U18 Girls Final

1. Max Kauffman 13.83
2. Sophia Jackson 6.73
3. Lila Aszalos 5.77
4. Tallulah Golding 5.43

---

Main Photo Caption: Max Kauffman dominated the U18 final as the 2026 Sea Harvest Cape Crown marked ten years of partnership between Sea Harvest and Surfing South Africa at Kommetjie in Cape Town on Sunday, 13 September 2026. Photo: Surfing South Africa

Photo 2 Caption: Lila Aszalos underlined her status as one of the country’s most exciting junior surfers, winning the U16 final and adding third place in the U18 final.

Photo 3 Caption: Brin Jarvis capped a remarkable weekend by winning the U14 final with an 11.00 total and finishing third in the U16 final.

The post Max Kauffman Storms to U18 Girls Title at Sea Harvest Cape Crown appeared first on gsport4girls.

Sorti à la 39e minute lors de la victoire du PSG à Brest (0-1), dimanche soir, Achraf Hakimi souffre d’une légère lésion à la cuisse droite. Le club parisien a communiqué ce lundi sur l’état de santé de son latéral marocain, qui va passer deux jours aux soins avant un nouveau bilan médical.

Hakimi touché à la cuisse droite

Titulaire face à Brest pour le compte de la 4e journée de Ligue 1, Achraf Hakimi a été contraint de quitter ses partenaires avant la pause. Le Marocain a ressenti une gêne à la cuisse droite et n’a pas pu poursuivre la rencontre.

Les examens médicaux ont confirmé une « légère lésion à la cuisse droite ». Un premier diagnostic qui incite le PSG à la prudence, même si la nature de la blessure ne semble pas alarmante à ce stade.

Deux jours de soins avant un nouveau bilan

Hakimi sera pris en charge par le staff médical du PSG au cours des deux prochains jours. À l’issue de cette période, un nouveau point sera effectué afin d’évaluer l’évolution de sa blessure.

Pour l’heure, aucune durée d’indisponibilité n’a été communiquée. Ce prochain bilan permettra d’en savoir davantage sur sa disponibilité pour les prochaines échéances.

Le PSG reste prudent

Alors que le calendrier parisien s’annonce chargé en Ligue 1 et en Ligue des champions, le PSG espère pouvoir rapidement récupérer l’un de ses cadres. Le club parisien devra toutefois attendre le prochain point médical avant d’être fixé sur la durée éventuelle de son absence.

The post PSG : nouvelles d’Achraf Hakimi après sa sortie sur blessure contre Brest appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry between the Springboks and All Blacks was even greater than advertised.

This was no contrived marketing sell. You cannot manufacture 105 years of history, 114 Tests, including Baltimore, and the emotional pull of the two most successful rugby nations in the sport.

Springboks & All Blacks

The All Blacks came to South Africa for seven matches, including three Tests, and for a month the country was consumed by black, green and gold. New Zealand was just as absorbed. The build-up was huge and the tour exceeded it.

We learned that the All Blacks are more loved in South Africa than ever. They remain the Springboks greatest rivals, but also their greatest rugby friends.

Among supporters it was as much a Friendship Tour as a Rivalry Tour. Among the players, respect never became pretence. Nobody embodied this more powerfully than captains Siya Kolisi and Ardie Savea. They competed fiercely, spoke warmly and showed that rivalry does not need bitterness to have meaning.

The All Blacks back play was unrivalled and breathtaking. South Africans were treated to attacking rugby not seen here since the glory years of New Zealand’s Super Rugby dominance.

They played with width, timing, skill and instinct. Give New Zealand space and rhythm and no team in the world punishes an opponent quite like them.

The Springboks offered the counterpoint. Their scrum, lineout and maul again showed why they have won successive World Cups, successive Rugby Championships and 42 of their last 49 Tests, pre Baltimore.

New Zealand’s backs thrilled and South Africa’s set piece thrilled in a very different way. The contrasts in style defined the intensity and intrigue.

The series reminded us why these two nations belong together and why there is a place in the modern calendar for a proper tour every four years. The Springboks go to New Zealand in 2030 and the All Blacks return in 2034.

The lure is greater than the romanced British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa every 12 years. This is not a composite team arriving on reputation and nostalgia of an archived amateur era. This is the greatest against the greatest and the sport’s most successful against the most successful.

The concept worked and the execution, mostly, worked. But success cannot mask the mistakes.

Ticket pricing was a misjudgement. Test prices should have been significantly different from prices for the four tour matches. This became a series for corporates and the rich while too many ordinary South Africans watched from a distance.

That was wrong.

A national rugby occasion cannot be celebrated as inclusive when the price excludes those who give the Springbok identity its voice, colour, soul and meaning.

Government and SA Rugby could have done more to ensure the tour belonged to every South African, not only the financially fortunate. Protecting a government-gazetted event matters, but so does selling its meaning through the media and making it accessible to the population whose passion gives it value.

The schedule was flawed. All four South African URC teams were in pre-season, which immediately compromised the tour matches.

Then came the allocation: the Sharks in Durban on a Tuesday, the Lions on a Tuesday, the Stormers on a Friday and the Bulls on a Saturday.

The Stormers and Bulls were always the safer crowd bets. The Saturday opportunities should have gone to the Sharks and Lions. A grand concept still requires practical thinking.

These are learnings, not reasons to diminish what unfolded. The tour succeeded because the rivalry is real, the rugby was compelling and the human connection between the nations is genuine.

South Africa lived it for a month. New Zealand, judging by the intensity of its media coverage, lived it just as fully. It was relentless, emotional and memorable.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry proved that traditional tours still have a place, provided there is an acceptance that heritage cannot belong only to those who can afford the ticket.

The All Blacks left more admired than when they arrived and the Springboks reinforced why they are back to back world champions.

The tour was a triumph. Next time, it must be a triumph for everyone.

Mark Keohane Keo Uncut Sunday Times Rugby Column