Todays Sporting News – 12 September 2025

• The Purchas Cup is Australasia’s main gay and inclusive rugby tournament. The 15th edition of the tournament kicked off in Auckland today, with eight teams from six clubs competing across two divisions. The Sydney Convicts are the defending Purchas Cup champions and will seek to ward off challenges from the other top division teams, including tournament hosts the NZ Falcons.
• The Bok coaches as well as the players will have plenty to prove when they travel to Wellington this Saturday to defend their Freedom Cup Rugby title.
• The last time South Africa clinched a World Athletics Championships medal was in 2017. The athletes representing the country at the 2025 edition aim to end this drought.
• Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana completed a loan move to Turkish side Trabzonspor on Thursday, the Premier League club said.
• The Sydney Roosters secured the 2025 NRLW minor premiership last night with a 34-10 win over the Cronulla Sharks.
• Australian cyclist Jay Vine finished just 0.9 seconds behind Italy’s Filippo Ganna in the shortened Stage 18 individual time trial in Valladolid, denying him a third stage win this Vuelta.
• Five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior hockey team have been cleared to resume NHL careers starting on 1 December, after they were found not guilty of sexual assault.
• The first AFL semi-final of the weekend will see the Adelaide Crows host Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval. The Crows finished the regular season on top of the table, but after losing to Collingwood last week, they find themselves in a do-or-die situation.
• The Penrith Panthers’ campaign to win a fifth consecutive NRL premiership begins. The Panthers sat in last place on the ladder after Round 12, but went on to win nine straight matches as part of a remarkable turnaround to land themselves inside the top eight.
• The Asia Cup: BAN beat HK by 7 wickets.
• Saudi Arabia are launching their first major cricket festival in November 2025.
• Football – Chelsea are expecting to be hit with a substantial financial sanction for transfer misdemeanours, after the Football Association charged them with 74 breaches of its rules relating to the use of football agents.
• Athletics – A new scientific study has predicted that Usain Bolt would have run the 100m in 9.42sec in super spikes – an astonishing 0.16sec faster than his current world record set in 2009.
• Football – The Sheffield United women’s head coach, Ash Thompson, has been suspended from his duties as the team prepare for their second league match of the season. The reasons behind Thompson’s suspension were not made clear.
• Canelo Alvarez takes on Terence Crawford tomorrow (9 pm ET, Netflix) for the undisputed super middleweight boxing championship.
• The 2025 World Track and Field Championships kick off from Tokyo tomorrow.
• Chelsea Football Club charged with 74 breaches of Football Association rules related to payments to agents.
• Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick and captain Siya Kolisi admitted on Friday that they had learned many lessons from last weekend’s 24-17 defeat against New Zealand in Auckland as they gear up for Saturday’s Test against their archrivals in Wellington, with Stick saying they have to be at their best for the full 80 minutes.
• The Proteas Women were celebrated in a capping and send-off ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of their participation in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India. The event, hosted by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in partnership with Suzuki Auto South Africa, took place in Johannesburg in front of staff, media, and well-wishers.
• The UK government has teamed up with experts to supercharge women’s sport in time for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• There is no way that the Springbok Women will simply roll over in their Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand in Exeter after fighting the odds, training for hours and hours, and spending months away from family and friends. That was the message from team captain Nolusindiso Booi as the South Africans completed their preparations for their first RWC playoff, against the defending champions, the Black Ferns, at Sandy Park on Saturday.
• Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.
• Retired NBA player and former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the NBA said Thursday in a statement released on behalf of Collins and his family.
• Striker could still play for League One club this season despite being in prison.
• Dele Alli reality check as Ryan Reynolds told Wrexham got transfer decision right.
• Roy Keane admits talks for emotional managerial return but slams ‘farce’ offer.
• Wrexham told of relegation risk over one major flaw – but new £6.5m star could fix it.
• Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory: Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 Fifa World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday. Kick-off is at 6:00 pm CAT. CURRENT FORM. The Buccaneers are the favourites coming into this encounter due to …
• Postecoglou admits Spurs sacking ‘not a surprise’ despite European glory: Ange Postecoglou said he knew he was going to be sacked by Tottenham well before he ended their long trophy drought by winning the Europa League. — NIGERIA ONLY –. The Australian is back in the Premier League after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo as …
• Postecoglou wants to bring trophies to Nottingham Forest: Ange Postecoglou believes “exciting times” lie ahead of Nottingham Forest as the Australian aims to end the club’s 35-year wait to win a major trophy. — NIGERIA ONLY –. Postecoglou replaced the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo on Tuesday after the …
• Sjava and Mörda to headline MTN8 final entertainment: The Premier Soccer League (PSL), together with tournament sponsor MTN, have announced that award-winning artists Sjava and Mörda Bongz will headline the MTN8 Final pre-match entertainment at Mbombela Stadium. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to …
• Postecoglou news conference: ‘I’ve won trophies all my career’: Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou on starting at Arsenal: “It is what it is. First four games are away so I got a good look at the stadium today. Every Premier League fixture is challenging. It’s a great game. Mikel has got them off to a good start.
• PSL announces park & Ride facilities for the 2025 MTN8 Final: The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has announced the availability of free Park and Ride facilities for spectators attending the highly anticipated 2025 MTN8 Final at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, 13 September 2025. To ensure a smooth and enjoyable …
• ‘I don’t have anything to prove’ – Postecoglou: Ange Postecoglou says he doesn’t “have to prove anything to anyone” as he starts his reign as Nottingham Forest’s new boss. Postecoglou was appointed on Tuesday, with the club sacking Nuno Espirito Santo late on Monday after 21 months in charge at the …
• Ange Postecoglou’s Forest unveiling: ‘Won my whole career’: Spurs coach win % … Postecoglou will have to navigate a relationship with Marinakis, who quickly soured on Nuno despite delivering the club’s best season in a generation last term. When asked about the club’s owner, Postecoglou said: “I’ve only met him a …
• ‘Shambles of a night’ – Brook on rain-reduced T20: England captain Harry Brook described the rain-reduced T20 between England and South Africa in Cardiff as a “shambles of a night”. A delayed start until 20:50 BST saw the match reduced to nine overs a side and the tourists reached 97-5 after 7.5 overs …
• Marmoush a doubt for Manchester derby: Egypt forward Omar Marmoush could miss Sunday’s Manchester derby after the Manchester City player suffered a knee ligament injury while on international duty. — NIGERIA ONLY –. Marmoush was due to have an X-ray on his arrival in Cairo on Wednesday …

TODAY IN SPORTS:

1895 — Defender wins three straight matches from the British challenger Valkyrie II to defend the America’s Cup for the United States.

1936 — Fred Perry becomes the first foreign player to win three U.S. men’s singles titles when he defeats Don Budge, 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, 1-6, 10-8. Alice Marble ends the four-year reign of Helen Jacobs as U.S. women’s singles champion, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

1955 — Tony Trabert wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a victory over Ken Rosewall. Doris Hart wins the women’s title.

1966 — Australia’s Fred Stolle beats countryman John Newcombe to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Stolle wins in four sets, 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4.

1976 — Jimmy Connors beats Bjorn Borg in four sets to win the U.S. Open.

1979 — Carl Yastrzemski reaches 3,000 hits off of NY Yankee pitcher Jim Beattie.

1981 — Tracy Austin wins her second U.S. Open singles title, edging first-time finalist Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.

1982 — Jimmy Connors wins the U.S. Open, defeating Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

1984 — N.Y. Met Dwight Gooden sets rookie strike out record at 251.

1988 — 1st NFL regular-season game played in Phoenix; Dallas beats Arizona.

1995 — The Harlem Globetrotters’ 24-year, 8,829-game winning streak is stopped. It ends in a 91-85 loss to a team led by basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scores 34 points in a competitive, unscripted game in Vienna, Austria.

1998 — Lindsay Davenport captures her first Grand Slam tournament singles title, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.

1999 — Andre Agassi comes back from two-sets-to-one down to win his second U.S. Open singles title. Agassi, who never loses his serve, defeats Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2. It’s the first five-set U.S. Open final in 11 years.

2004 — Roger Federer becomes the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 to add the U.S. Open title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

2005 — Mark Messier announces on radio that he will retire from the NHL.

2010 — Houston running back Arian Foster rushes for a franchise-record 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans’ 34-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Foster is the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards and three touchdowns for an opening weekend.

2011 — Tom Brady passes for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 38-24.

2011 — U.S. Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins his first US title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.

2014 — Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree score 24 points each and the Phoenix Mercury, playing without star center Brittney Griner, beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA Finals for their third championship.

2015 — Kent State dominates Delaware State in the Golden Flashes’ home opener, 45-13, but it’s overshadowed by a single point-after kick in the second quarter by April Goss. Goss, a four-year member of the Kent State team and a former high school soccer player, becomes the second female to score in a Division I game in NCAA history. Katie Hnida kicked a pair of extra points for New Mexico in 2003.

2015 — David Ortiz homers twice to become the 27th player in major league history to reach 500 homers, and Boston beats Tampa Bay 10-4.

2018 — Breanna Stewart leads the Seattle Storm to their third WNBA title, scoring 30 points in a 98-82 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.

2020 — Naomi Osaka of Japan wins her second US Open title beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.