Must-watch sporting events this weekend

Great goals, big hits and super tries … SportsClub‘s JUANDRE JOUBERT takes a look at some great sporting events you can’t miss this coming weekend.

Friday

Cricket

The inaugural Mzansi Super League kicks off on Friday when the Cape Town Blitz host AB de Villiers’ Tshwane Spartans in South Africa’s flagship T20 tournament. The public wondered if the league was actually going to take place, but it has finally arrived. There will be great international players, Proteas players as well as some talented youngsters. So get out there and support your team!

Saturday

The Proteas take on Australia at 10:20am (SA time) on Saturday in a one-off T20I. The Proteas will be looking to finish off their tour to Australia with another victory after defeating the Aussies 2-1 in the ODI series.

Soccer

After stocking up for a busy afternoon with some great action, you can start with some soccer as Bafana Bafana will look to book their spot in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations when they take on Nigeria at the FNB Stadium on Saturday. Bafana know that a victory over the Super Eagles will be enough to see them qualify for next year’s Afcon. Kick-off is at 3pm.

Rugby

After seeing Bafana book their spot (hopefully), you have about two hours off to get the braai going, feed the kids and spend some time with your partner before the Springboks travel to Murrayfield to take on Scotland. The Scots are coming off a good win over Fiji and will be confident of causing an upset over the Boks. Scotland have only lost one out of their last 10 games at home – a five-point defeat to the All Blacks. It’s going to be a tight affair that could go either way.

Springboks — Duane Vermeulen against Scotland in 2015

After the Murrayfield clash, it’s time for one of the biggest rugby matches of the year as No 2-ranked Ireland host the All Blacks, the top Test team in the world. Both teams have only lost one game this year. The All Blacks scraped home against England last weekend while Ireland looked rusty in their 11-point victory over Argentina. Our betting expert the Money Man is backing the All Blacks to get a win in Dublin.