How a political stunt involving a stuffed giraffe head led to a wildlife rescue team's frantic response and public outrage against the DA.

South Africans can look forward to mostly fine weather this Sunday, with cool mornings and warm afternoons. However, be cautious of extremely high fire danger warnings in parts of the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape

The winless Bulls face the daunting task of taking on the in-form and confident Cheetahs at home in a round five Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday (3pm). They have so far lost all four of their matches and they remain rooted to the bottom of the points table. The Bulls have managed to pick up just three bonus points along the way and have a points differential of minus 69. Every other team in the competition has won at least two games. But while the Bulls will be looking for anything to help them pick up a win, perhaps even inspiration from the “senior side” who put up a decent fight against the All Blacks at the same venue on Saturday, the Cheetahs are flying high and out to make it four wins in five games. The Free Staters climbed to second place on the standings last week, level on points with Griquas, after their 31-26 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town last week, and will be favourites to win again this weekend. Since their opening-round victory over the Lions, they have also beaten the Sharks and Stormers, with their only defeat coming in a narrow 24-21 contest away to Griquas. Their attack has produced 124 points and 19 tries in four matches, illustrating why many view them as genuine title contenders. Following earlier results this weekend though, the Cheetahs have slipped back to fourth, with the Pumas and Boland moving past them on the log. As things stand going into Sunday’s game, Griquas lead the way with 21 points (after their win against the Sharks), followed by the Pumas (who beat the Stormers, 17), Boland (who beat the Lions, 16) and then it’s the Cheetahs (16 points). Fifth are the Lions (13), sixth are the Stormers (11), seventh are the Sharks (10), with the Bulsl eighth (three). Faf de Klerk, the double World Cup winner who has been such a big player for the Cheetahs up to now, will miss Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. It is a huge blow for the travellers this week. They are without several first-choice players who’re currently sidelined, among them Clayton Blommetjies as well. Just a few days ago, Cheetahs coach Frans Steyn said it was good to have De Klerk playing for the Bloemfontein-based side. “He’s still finding his feet and his voice in our squad, but we’re so happy to have him. “Hopefully, one day he’ll take my job, I’ll get fired and all of that, and he can make an even bigger impact in Free State rugby,” said Steyn after last weekend’s win in Cape Town. “I mean, he’s massive – it’s a big thing for us to have Faf, so it’s massive.” The Bulls team meanwhile shows a few interesting changes this weekend, with Devon Williams moving to No 10, with Keagan Johannes shifting back to his more familiar scrumhalf role.

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz says his side still need time to reach the level of Mamelodi Sundowns despite holding them to a 1-1 draw in the Betway Premiership at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Chiefs’ Da Cruz – ‘You can’t compare’ “If you want to compare Chiefs and Sundowns, you can’t compare,” Da Cruz told reporters at the post match press conference. “Sundowns players have been playing together for six or seven years, and here we are at Chiefs where we arrived one-and-a-half months ago. “Let us have time and we will improve step by step. It has been a good start to the championship (Premiership), but there is still a lot of work to do, especially in offence.” Chiefs have two wins and a draw in Da Cruz’ first three Premiership matches, and new signing Langelihle Phili has made an immediate impact after joining from Stellenbosch. Phili won Man-of-the-Match in Chiefs’ midweek win over Sekhukhune, and on Saturday his 64th minute goal put Amakhosi in front against Masandawana. Chiefs could not hold onto the lead as Cassius Mailula came off the bench to score for a second time since he returned to Sundowns ahead of the new season. Da Cruz was cautious in his praise for Phili after the game. “The difficulty against an opponent like that, that has a bit more of the ball, when you win the ball back, you expect him to keep it,” said the Chiefs head coach. “In the first half he lost too many balls. At half time we told him he needed to keep the ball, and he was much better in the second half. But he is still someone finding his bearings in the organisation and we need to give him a bit more time. The further we go, the more important a player he will be for the team.” ‘A high level match’ While Saturday’s game was not always an exciting watch, Da Cruz said it reminded him of matches in the CAF Champions League. “For me it was a high level match. I have had the opportunity to play Wydad and Raja (when he was coach at AS FAR in Morocco) and today was a match of that level,” said Da Cruz. “Today for us it was a Champions League match and we played like a team in the Champions League.”

The All Blacks have got better and better as Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series has gone on, with a hard-fought win over the Stormers followed by resounding victories against the Sharks and Bulls, but now the real business of Test match rugby against the Springboks lies ahead. The teams will play four back-to-back Tests against New Zealand, starting with Saturday’s encounter at Ellis Park (22 August), before moving to Cape Town for the second Test at the DHL Stadium (29 August), the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (5 September), and concluding the series at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (12 September). All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has acknowledged that it will be a whole different ball game next weekend after brushing aside the Bulls 50-19 on Saturday. “We know that the intensity level, the quality that we’re going to come up against next week is, you know, three, four, fivefold,” Rennie said. “We’ve played reasonably well on tour and we know we need to up the ante. “It was almost like we were training for the Springboks, the Bulls were coming a lot harder defensively,” he added. “Look, it’s good for us. We’ve now got a game at altitude, guys have got an appreciation for that. I thought we worked really hard in those circumstances and will be better for it.” All signs point to a very competitive Test series between the Springboks and All Blacks Bok hooker Johan Grobbelaar and utility forward Elrigh Louw, who were released to play for the Bulls in their RGR match against the All Blacks on Saturday evening, will rejoin the national squad on Sunday. The opening Test match kicks off at 17:10 this Saturday, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport. “We are pleased that the players are well recovered and ready to give everything for the forthcoming Tests against the All Blacks,” said Rassie Erasmus. “It will undoubtedly be a very challenging tournament, but we are looking forward to it as a collective. This series is almost like playing the knock-out stages of a Rugby World Cup because we are facing one of the world’s best week in and week out, and we all understand the magnitude of the RGR series. “It’s a new and exciting challenge, and we have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the group of coaches and players who remained behind in South Africa in the last two weeks, so we will finetune the areas of our game, which we would like to improve next week as we get ready to take the field.” Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry fixtures and results Saturday, 12 September: Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, United States – 23:00 (SA time) Friday, 7 August: Stormers 21-38 New Zealand, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Tuesday, 11 August: Sharks 0-54 New Zealand, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban Saturday, 15 August: Bulls 19-50 New Zealand, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria – 19:00 Saturday, 22 August: First Test, Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 17:10 Tuesday, 25 August: Lions vs New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 19:00 Saturday, 29 August: Second Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – 17:10 Saturday, 5 September: Third Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg – 17:10

AmaZulu head coach Arthur Zwane has challenged Zimbabwean youngster Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya to follow in the footsteps of some of the country’s biggest football stars. Zwane believes Ngwenya has the potential to reach the same level as Zimbabwean greats Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat and Peter Ndlovu if he continues to develop under his guidance. Ngwenya shines against Siwelele The AmaZulu coach made the comments after Ngwenya played a starring role in his side’s 2-0 victory over Siwelele, scoring one goal and providing an assist. Ngwenya’s performance appears to have strengthened Zwane’s belief that the young Zimbabwean can develop into a top player. “Thando is still young, but I want him to reach the level of the Musonas,” Zwane said after the match. The former Kaizer Chiefs coach also described himself as Ngwenya’s mentor and vowed to continue pushing the youngster to fulfil his potential. “I am his mentor and coach, and I will push him to reach that level,” he said. Zwane wants Ngwenya to become a Zimbabwe star Zwane wants Ngwenya to use his time at AmaZulu as an important stepping stone in his development before eventually returning to Zimbabwe as an established player. “When he returns to Zimbabwe, I want him to eventually be regarded in the same way as the Musonas, Khama Billiat and Peter Ndlovu because he has the potential to reach that level,” Zwane added. The backing from Zwane represents a significant endorsement for Ngwenya, who is still at an early stage of his career. Ngwenya has scored four goals in five games this season. Zwane’s major endorsement for the young forward Musona, Billiat and Ndlovu have all enjoyed distinguished careers and are widely recognised among Zimbabwe’s leading football exports. Zwane’s comments suggest that he sees similar qualities in Ngwenya and believes the youngster can eventually establish himself among the country’s elite. For Ngwenya, the challenge will now be to build on his impressive display against Siwelele and translate his potential into consistent performances. With Zwane promising to continue working closely with him, the Zimbabwean youngster has been handed a clear target: develop into a player capable of matching the standards set by some of Zimbabwe’s most celebrated footballers.

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