Sports Salad

By Chris George

Tri-Nations Rugby - Australia or New Zealand?

Next Saturday, 13 September will mark the finale of the gruelling Tri-Nations Rugby Union Series when Australia host New Zealand in Brisbane. The tri-nations pit top rugby teams New Zealand (the All Blacks), Australia (Wallabies) and South Africa (Springboks) in a league series. At present, New Zealand lead the table with 3 wins from 5 matches and 14 points, followed by Australia with 3 wins but with 13 points also from 5 games. Bottom is South Africa with 10 points from six games, but with a significant crushing victory, 53-8 over Australia in Johannesburg.

The Tri-Nations series started in 1996, and is played on a home and away basis, but each team plays the others three times. The matches played between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup. The first championship was won by New Zealand who went through all their matches undefeated. In 1997, it was the same story, New Zealand thrashing the others. In 1998, there was a big surprise with South Africa winning, Australia second and New Zealand at the bottom with no wins. Australia first won in the year 2000. That tournament saw what is billed as one of the greatest rugby matches of all times, in the first match at Stadium Australia, where New Zealand won with an injury time try by the legendary Jonah Lomu. This match was in from of 109,874 spectators.

This weekend, on Sunday there is Formula One action with the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, Belgium. Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain will try to surge ahead to consolidate his lead. Last year as a rookie, he led almost to the end and was pipped into the runners-up spot. Hamilton in a McLaren leads the standings with 70 points followed by Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Ferrari with 64 points and reigning world champion Finnish Kimi Raikonnen on third with 57 points. Ferrari leads the constructors team standings with 121 points followed by McLaren-Mercedes with 113 points. The top 8 finishers are awarded 10,8,6,5,4,3,2 and 1 points.

Formula One or F1, is one of the most exciting sports where cars race at speeds of upto 360 km/hr. Imagine doing that on the Arusha – Moshi road. It is estimated that 55 million people all over the world, watch the races live. If you witness Sunday’s race, you will be watching one of the best circuits in the world. The track is along the Ardennes mountains lots of challenges for the drivers and the world’s toughest corner.

This Saturday and Sunday too are exciting times for tennis lovers. It is the climax of the last Tennis Grand slam of the year, the US Open. There will be the ladies and mens singles finals. As I write, the only major shocks have been the defeats of Serb and top women’s player Anna Ivanovic and Russian Svetlana Kutsenova. My tips to win the tournament are yes, a now relaxed Roger Federer and Venus Williams.

 This week there are no English premier league fixtures as there are World Cup qualifiers all over the world. Last weekend I did have the pleasure of watching Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool play. The World Cup matches will be held on Saturday and Wednesday. On Sunday at 2pm Tanzanian time, Tanzania’s national team the Taifa Stars will be away to Mauritius.

There have been some very interesting transfers before the close of the transfer window and these will bolster the various club sides. Robinho has joined Manchester City, Berbatov has moved to Manchester United and Riera to Liverpool.

Sports Calendar

World Cup Qualifiers (selected)

Saturday, 6 September 2008

Andorra v England, 9pm (Tanzanian time)

Spain v Bosnia-Herzegovina

Cyprus v Italy

Malta v Portugal

Liechtenstein v Germany

Austria v France

Argentina v Paraguay, 10pm

Kenya v Namibia, 4pm

South Africa v Nigeria

Zambia v Togo

Sunday, 7 September 2008

Chile v Brazil, 1am (Tanzanian time)

Mauritius v Tanzania, 2pm

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

Russia v Wales

France v Serbia

Croatia v England

Italy v Georgia

Spain v Armenia

Portugal v Denmark

Finland v Germany

Brazil v Bolivia

Peru v Argentina 

Tennis

6 September 2008

US Open, New York

Women’s Final

7 September 2008

US Open, New York

Men’s Final 

Golf

4 – 7 September 2008 (USPGA - FedEx)

BMW Championship, St. Louis, Missouri 

5 – 7 September 2008 (LPGA Tour)

NW Arkansas Championship, Arkansas, USA

Cricket

Third One Day International, Australia v Bangladesh, Darwin, 6 September 2008 

Formula One

Sunday 7 September 2008

Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 

Rugby Union

Saturday, 13 September 2008

Tri-Nations Series

Australia v New Zealand (Brisbane)