Breakfast Headlines

Springbok captain John Smit is back in SA, but not before making his feelings very clear to the media in Wellington, about the incident with Brad Thorn. An angry Smit said had Bakkies Botha done the same to Richie McCaw, it would have brought world rugby to a standstill, and he added that someone who was not from New Zealand did not seem to enjoy the same rights in the game as a player in the All Blacks.

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WP coach Alister Coetzee meanwhile will resist the temptation to rest his main players against Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday, followed by the Valke and Boland Cavaliers. The coach made it clear that all the matches in the competition were tough, adding that the time for experimentation in the team is over.

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Just one day to go ahead of what should be a riveting test series between South Africa and England, and the Proteas brains trust have revealed that they are expecting the England middle order to be the weak link in the! side. Mickey Arthur said the South Africans thought Ian Bell at number five and Paul Collingwood one place lower would be under pressure, especially with the South African pace attack showing more depth than it has for some time. The weather could still be the joker in the pack, with intermittent showers expected all week.

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South Africa have moved above India and England into second place in the ICC test rankings, although they are still 23 rating points behind runaway leaders Australia. ICC test rankings for batsman show Jacques kallis at number 6, with Kumar Sangakkara on the top spot. In the bowling rankings, Dale Steyn is at number 2 behind Muttiah Muralitharan, with Makhaya Ntini at 5. kallis is the world's top ranked all-rounder.

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Australian cricket officials said yesterday meanwhile that they could decide within a fortnight whether or not to pull out of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan because of security concerns.
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The Port Elizabeth stadium has been ! removed as a venue for the 2009 Confederations Cup because it's unlikely to be finished in time, according FIFA. It will be OK in time for the 2010 World Cup.

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New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said yesterday that Frank Lampard would remain at the club, and he's added that Didier Drogba is 200 percent part of his plans for the new season as well.
Lampard and Drogba have been the subject of intense speculation that they would move to Italy to link up with former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, who has taken over at Inter Milan.

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German Stefan Schumacher grabbed the Tour de France leader's yellow jersey with a win in the fourth stage yesterday, a 29.5-km time trial. He clocked a best time of 35 minutes and 44 seconds on a windswept course to beat Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia by 18 seconds.
Robert Hunter of team Barloworld moves up to 36th place overall on the standings.

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Hank McGregor ! opened the defense of his Isuzu Berg River canoe marathon time title in the best possible way with a win in the pre-race time trial held on a flooded Berg river in windy andicy conditions yesterday. McGregor covered the 5 kilometers of the time trial, which is held to determine the front row seeding for the race proper, in the fast time of sixteen minutes. The race gets underway today. Cape Town paddler Abbey Mediema, as expected, set the fastest time for the ladies.