BLAST FROM THE PAST| Argentina squeak past the Boks in Rugby Championship contest

1979 — Star runner Matthews “Loop en Val” Motshwarateu gets a helping hand from two white South African colleagues to take up a scholarship at the University of Texas in El Paso. Short of the airfare to get to the US, athletes Bernard Rose and Johnny Halberstadt dipped into their own pockets to assist him. At that stage, athletics was still strictly amateur in South Africa, meaning Motshwarateu — named Loop en Val for his awkward running style — was unable to earn money from the sport.

1996 — Bafana Bafana and Ghana play to a goalless draw in the final contest of a four-nations tournament at Loftus Versfeld, but it’s enough for South Africa to lift the trophy and the R200,000 first prize.

2002 — Don Cech and Ramon Di Clemente win silver in the men’s pair at the rowing world championships in Seville, improving on the bronze they won the previous year.

2002 — Striker Patrick Mayo scores twice as Bafana Bafana beat Malawi 3-1 in the first leg of the Cosafa Cup final in Blantyre. Substitute Jimmy Kauleza scored the third goal with two minutes of regulation time remaining. South Africa would head to Durban a week later searching for their first-ever Cosafa Cup triumph.

2008 — Anthony Stott and Cameron Schoeman claim the men’s K2 marathon gold at the ICF Canoe world championships in Tyn nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, completing the 30.1km course in 2hr 2min 14.36sec. The previous day Stott had taken bronze in the men’s K1 marathon.

2013 — Hank McGregor wins his third K1 marathon world title, finishing first at the ICF Canoe regatta in Bagsvaerd So, Denmark, in 2hr 10min 34sec.

2014 — Pretoria-born Connie Chen lands her maiden Ladies European Tour victory, taking the Tenerife Open De Espana at Adeje by two strokes. She carded a 12-under-par 276.

2019 — The Springboks kick off their World Cup campaign in Yokohama, but are beaten 13-23 by defending champions New Zealand. Two tries in three minutes had the New Zealanders up 17-3 at halftime. Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit scored South Africa’s only try.

2024 — Substitute Manie Libbok misses a late penalty attempt as the Springboks go down 28-29 to Argentina in a Rugby Championship contest in Santiago del Estero. The hosts won the try-count 4-3, with Aphelele Fassi, Jesse Kriel and Cobus Reinach dotting down for South Africa.