Cabinet wishes Springboks well in second Tri-Nations match

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Pretoria - Cabinet has wished the world champion Springbok Rugby Team well, in their second Tri-Nations match on Saturday.

The Springboks take on the All Blacks, at King's Park Stadium, in Durban.

"(Cabinet) took the opportunity to wish the Springboks well in their forthcoming game against New Zealand at the weekend," Minister for Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, Collins Chabane, said on Thursday, following an ordinary meeting of cabinet.

Cabinet further congratulated the Springboks for regaining the number one spot in the rugby rankings, following their excellent performance over the past few weeks.

Last Saturday, the Springboks beat New Zealand 28-19 in a nail biting match. South Africa survived a second-half comeback from New Zealand to open their Tri-Nations campaign with a victory.

The Springboks dominated the opening half and had a healthy 14-3 lead, thanks to Ruan Pienaar's try and penalty and two further kicks from Frans Steyn.

South Africa went into the game on the back of a 2-1 series victory over the British and Irish Lions.

Cabinet further congratulated Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs for their performance against Manchester City during the Vodacom Challenge.

Last Saturday, a goal from Jeffrey Ntuka just before half-time gave Kaizer Chiefs a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Vodacom Challenge final, handing the Amakhosi the title.

In the opening game of the Vodacom Challenge on 18 July, Orlando Pirates beat Manchester City 2-0 in a thrilling match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

"Their performance will serve to inspire young South Africans to do better in sports," said Mr Chabane.

Mr Chabane further added that the performance of South Africa's athletes at the World Athletics Championships, currently taking place in Monaco, was also noted by Cabinet and welcomed.

LJ van Zyl, Khotso Mokoena and Rueben Molefe excelled in the 400m race, long jump and steeplechaser respectively.

Cabinet also noted the performance of the country's swimmers at the FINA World Championships in Rome. The latest gold won by Cameron van den Bergh has placed South Africa in position 9 on the medals table.