The Australian team stood firm and won the final Test at the Wanderers, sharing the spoils of the series with the Proteas. PAUL BERKOWITZ looks back on a magical, all-too-brief fortnight.

As soon as the Test series between South Africa and Australia began, it is about to be concluded in the second and final Test at the Wanderers. PAUL BERKOWITZ writes from the steam cooker of Johannesburg, a city sluggish under an oppressive heatwave, and wonderers which team will be hardened by the heat and which one will crack.

The second day of the first SA – Australia Test was so bizarre and unearthly that it’s hard to believe it actually happened. During a day when voicemail messages lasted longer than some batsmen at the crease, PAUL BERKOWITZ tried to make sense of it all.

Joe Frazier, the sweet science's epic rival to Muhammad Ali, passed away at 67 from liver cancer. Frazier beat Ali in that legendary fight in Madison Square Garden in 1971. It took him years to come to terms with Ali's taunts, both in the ring and outside it, but before he died, Frazier told the world he had forgiven Ali. Way to go, Smokin’ Joe. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

One of the moments of the past Rugby World Cup that the New Zealand side would rather we forgot was the famous Twitter ban that was imposed on its players. It was soon lifted, of course, but did make the managers look like Luddites. A Mexican football club is looking at Twitter rather differently. Instead of player names, the new Los Jaguares kit will feature the players’ Twitter handles. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

On Tuesday Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty of plotting to cheat and to take bribes in a match against England last year. The verdict is another crushing blow to Pakistani cricket, but it serves also as an indictment of the modern game. By KHADIJA PATEL.

The IRB has named the officials in charge for the upcoming Six Nations Championship, and a certain New Zealander’s name is nowhere to be seen. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

With the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup now done and dusted, the new champions crowned in front of a packed Eden Park, STYLI CHARALAMBOUS takes look a back at the highs, the lows and the mixed bag of what was RWC 2011.

World Cup finals hardly ever become the try-scoring fests of earlier parts of the tournament. This one was no different as the All Blacks scraped home by 8-7, in front of a sold-out Eden Park. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

He knows he should be a better man, accept fate and swallow that bitter-tasting medicine of defeat. But he just can’t. Rather than achingly anticipating a splendid spectacle of World Cup final rugby, STYLI CHARALAMBOUS previews the acrimonious match that is sans his beloved Springboks.

On Monday, 17 October 2011, something happened in the world of tennis that was last seen in July 2003. For the first time in just over eight years, the number four appeared beside the name of Roger Federer on the ATP World Rankings list, prompting his detractors to predict the end of an era, and the single-handed backhand. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

PAUL BERKOWITZ leaves the cricket traditionalists behind and joins the ADHD generation for the second T20 between South Africa and Australia on Sunday.

In a highly physical encounter that saw several New Zealanders spilling blood for their cause, the All Blacks marched imperiously into their third World Cup final after a 20-6 triumph in Auckland. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS

When Tonga beat this French team in the final group match of Pool A, few would have believed that the Tricolours would make it much further in the tournament, let alone their third RWC final. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS reviews the drama of the first semi-final at Eden Park, Auckland.

The international cricket season is upon us again, and the Australian tour of South Africa is about to start, but PAUL BERKOWITZ is really grumpy, and he’s blaming it on Cricket South Africa for hogging headlines with issues that have zilch to do with the sport.

It has been a terrible weekend to be a South African of a sporting persuasion. Bafana Bafana will probably be secretly happy that the rugby side are out of the World Cup. They will have hoped we forgot about the nail-chewingly embarrassing scenes of celebration after their goalless draw against Sierra Leone on Saturday. Oh, but we remember. We remember all too well. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

In a heart-wrenching encounter, Australia ended the hopes of the Springboks with an 11-9 victory, in Wellington. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS reviews the match - a game of missed opportunities and dubious refereeing.

France had become the laughing stock of RWC 2011, but a rejuvenated side put on an inspired display of rugby to beat England 19-12 at Auckland’s Eden Park in the second quarterfinal on Saturday. By STYLI CHARAMLAMBOUS.

So much was expected of this game, as the two best northern- hemisphere teams clashed in New Zealand’s capital. And boy, did they deliver on the rugby entertainment as Wales won out 22-10. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS reviews the weekend’s first quarterfinal.

The pool matches of a Rugby World Cup that showed a marked improvement in the state of rugby among the smaller nations are now over. The eight quarterfinalists through to the knockout stages are hardly surprising, given they are the Top 8 teams in the world. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS previews quarterfinal weekend at the RWC with some predictions.

With South Africa cementing their place in the quarter finals of RWC 2011, Bok fans could afford to sit back and watch rugby drama unfold as the biggest upset in World Cup history played out and the favourites all suffered heavy injury setbacks. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

In the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, we dubbed Pool D the “Physio’s Pool of Pain”. On Friday, the Boks and Samoans proved us right as the South Africans battled to a 13-5 win at Auckland’s North Harbour stadium. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

The national soccer team is in familiar, unpleasant territory. To qualify for next year’s Afcon tournament, they now rely on favourable results for other countries. PAUL BERKOWITZ and SIPHO HLONGWANE rage against this sad state of affairs.

In a match most fans would have been salivating over since the World Cup draw was announced, New Zealand put in a comprehensive display of rugby in beating France 37-17 in Auckland. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS reviews the match.

What a difference a week makes. Prior to the systematic dismantling of the Fijians and the crushing of the Namibians, the Boks were being ridiculed for their heart-stopping victory over Wales. And as the Bok’s defence campaign gains momentum, STYLI CHARALAMBOUS looks at some of the selection posers that could affect the outcome of their crusade.

The exit of Francesc Fabregas from Arsenal caused a bit of a stink when a magazine claimed that he had said that he was leaving because he believed that Arsenal were no longer capable of winning trophies. Which he says he never, ever said. Fabregas has now confirmed that he’s received an apology, retraction and damages from the offending magazine. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Rugby World Cup pool matches can generally be described as having two standout characteristics. The first being that each pool usually has but one table-topping decider, and the second being that you can expect at least one Twitter-trending upset in the opening rounds. Ireland look like they accomplished both feats today with a 15-6 win over Australia. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

The under-fire Springboks saw off a tough early challenge from the Fijians to record a comprehensive 49-3 victory in Wellington. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS reviews phase two of Operation World Cup Defence.

Sebastian Vettel was not under any pressure at all as he romped home on Sunday to win the Italian Grand Prix. Even going into the first corner with Fernando Alonso just ahead and Lewis Hamilton barrelling down his left on the outside, the German’s performance was so strong you had to suspect he’d easily find his way back to the front. By OSIAME MOLEFE.