Latest news with #Durbanite
The South African
27-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
World no. 1 Jordy Smith powers to VICTORY in Australia
World no. 1 Jordy Smith showed all the class and experience of 18-years on the Championship Tour to secure his second event victory in 2025. The prize on finals day in Margaret River, Western Australia, would be immense if world no. 1 Jordy Smith could hit his marks early … Solidifying no. 1 in the world, and a brand-new GWM Tank SUV for securing the 'Aussie Treble.' First, the 37-year-old Durbanite had to dispatch Crosby Colapinto in his semi-final heat. Something he did with astute surfing in dropping swell on Australia's west coast. Rather than wait for inconsistent set waves disrupted by strong off-shore winds, world no. 1 Jordy Smith set to work on the inside. He caught multiple waves to build up a winning heat total, while his competitor sat rooted out the back, only surfing one scoring wave. Smith sets to work on a larger set wave at Margaret River, Western Australia in the final against Griffin Colapinto. Image: World Surf League Then it was onto the final with another San Clemente phenom, Griffin Colapinto. Arguably the form surfer of the competition – scoring a perfect 10 in the quarterfinals – Colapinto would be no pushover in a man-on-man heat. However, world no. 1 Jordy Smith clicked into high gear and dominated the exchanges (watch the highlights below). There is no denying that world no. 1 Jordy Smith is surfing the best he ever has in his long career. He is able to combine shrewd heat IQ with his signature power surfing that always looks controlled and elegant, no matter the conditions. Video: World Surf League on YouTube Victory for world no. 1 Jordy Smith cements his position atop the WSL Championship Tour rankings. He currently sits on 36 130 points, with the next best surfer, Brazil's Italo Ferreira, on 31 290. Rather shrewdly, Smith opted not to surf in the leader's yellow jersey today. But he almost certainly will wear it in Lower Trestles, California, next month. The rest of the 2025 WSL Championship Tour sees four stops that will suit the powerful surfing of world no. 1 Jordy Smith. The top five competitors on the ranking will battle it out in Fiji for the world title. The remaining stops are: June 9-17 – Trestles Pro (USA) June 21-29 – Vivo Rio Pro (Brazil) July 11-20 – J-Bay Open (SA) August 7-16 – Tahiti Pro (Tahiti) August 27-September 4 – WSL Finals Fiji (Fiji) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Stormers coach Dobson would have preferred Durban but they could be headed for Scotstoun for URC playoffs
Vernon Matongo had a notable outing for the Stormers this past weekend. Photo: Backpagepix Image: Backpagepix Stormers coach John Dobson seems to have painted himself into an interesting corner because of the form of a Durban prop that is likely to make way for another Durban prop. The Durban dilemma for Dobson is that he has signed Springbok looshead Ntuthuko Mchunu from the Sharks, the Maritzburg College old boy, only to have given a spectacular weekend URC debut to Vernon Matongo, a Durbanite himself Matongo was excellent for the Stormers in their defeat of the Dragons at the weekend. The pizzazz was all about Damian Willemse's 100th cap, but there were sideshows from openside flank Paul de Villiers Durban schoolboy Matongo. The former Northwood schoolboy forced several scrum penalties to indicate that he is not going to give in to Mchunu when swaps Durban for Cape Town at the end of this season. Dobson believes Matongo and De Villiers are 'going to be huge'. 'I would love to take credit for it, but I can't, as the truth is that we have been helped by the injuries in that I have been taught a valuable lesson,' said Dobson. 'Had Deon (Fourie) not been injured I would probably have carried on playing him and we would not have got to see Paul get his opportunity. I always knew Paul was a star for the future and very capable, but I wasn't going to back him just yet. "Now that he has got to play he has shown he is more than ready and more than good enough. 'The way players such as Paul and Vernon have progressed is a big plus that we are getting out of these last few weeks of the season. The depth has been grown, but as I say, sometimes that has been by accident rather than necessarily by design.' Dobson added that he was pleased with the physicality of his players but unsure what to make of the weekend results that indicate that his team is not going to Durban for the quarter-finals. 'We pretty much thought that we were going to go to Durban the whole time,' said Dobson. 'That looks increasingly unlikely, especially when you see the team Leinster put out tonight. They're going to go full strength next week against Glasgow, we expect them to win that game, which would mean we go to Scotstoun.' Why the Stormers would prefer Durban has more to do than just the travel -— the Scotstoun is not a stadium the Stormers have a good record at. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading 'Last year, Glasgow were at their full pomp, and I know we lost that quarterfinal by 10-plus at the end, but we were in it until quite late in the game. So if we have to go that way, we will go that way,' said Dobson. 'If things go wrong next Friday against Cardiff, we'll have to go to Kings Park. "I wouldn't complain if we had to go to Pretoria to face the Bulls either. But we would never jerry-rig a game; we play on a Friday night, so we have to wrap our heads around going to Scotstoun.
