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Each week, I’ll be putting together a wrap of the weekend’s sporting action, standout moments, and major talking points, with a focus on football, cricket, and rugby.

The Weekend Sports Wrap is sponsored by Hollywoodbets – register now and score a R25 sign-up bonus.

Goodbye, Jose.

We have to kick this one off with the news that Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Spurs, after 17 months at the helm.

His side did fail to beat Everton on Friday night, but the sacking comes just six days out from Spurs’ Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on April 25.

However, Spurs do sit seventh in the Premier League table, and could drop to eighth if Everton were to win their game in hand, so Champions League qualification looks almost out of sight.

Perhaps that’s why Spurs were so keen to hop aboard the European Super League train, although the rest of the so-called Big Six (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United) have shown themselves to be just as eager.

I don’t want to get too carried away, but this would ruin world football as we know it and is a damning indictment of how out of touch these clubs are with their own fanbases, and the football community at large.

Ban it, crush it, and preserve what shreds remain of the beautiful game. Hang on – just getting a VAR check.

Yeah, it’s still beautiful, but only just.

Alright, let’s focus on what we’ve seen on the field, rather than in greedy boardrooms across Europe.

Saturday saw just the two Premier League matches, with the FA Cup semi-finals causing matches to be pushed into midweek, but the early kick-off was a cracker.

I still dislike Steve Bruce, and would love to see him gone come the end of the season, but the Toon have now won two on the trot, with their 3-2 win over West Ham a real rollercoaster.

In the space of five first-half minutes, Newcastle United scored twice, and West Ham had Craig Dawson sent off, and a 2-0 lead at half-time with a man advantage meant three points were in the bag.

Except, of course, for the fact that Newcastle can’t do anything the easy way, and West Ham came roaring back to level the match in the 80th minute.

Thankfully, Joe Willock headed home a Matt Ritchie cross shortly thereafter, and the buffer between Newcastle and the bottom three grew almost large enough to secure another season in the top flight.

Ritchie was pretty pleased after his cross:

Today on Matt Ritchie watch: #nufc pic.twitter.com/B6H4cJCBfK

— Adam Stoker (@ADStoker) April 17, 2021

Go on, you mad Scotsman.

Here are the match highlights:

Another Jesse Lingard goal – the man cannot stop scoring – although he did limp off towards the end of the match.

West Ham manager David Moyes has stated that it was cramp, so he’ll be fit for the next match.

The big FA Cup clash on Saturday saw Manchester City, who were aiming for an unprecedented quadruple, taking on a rejuvenated Chelsea side under Thomas Tuchel.

One of the main talking points was Fernandinho’s challenge on Mason Mount:

Did Fernandinho get away with one here? 👀 pic.twitter.com/kzB0l85ouu

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 17, 2021

I don’t think we can blame the Brazilian, as his feet seem to become tangled in Mount’s flailing arms.

However, given that Tuchel’s men won 1-0, and Pep Guardiola’s chances of making history were scuppered, it’s been largely forgotten.

Let’s see the highlights:

It’s not often that Martin Tyler talks himself into a corner, but how about this from Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Burnley?

Martin Tyler trying to dig himself out of a hole has made my day ahahaha pic.twitter.com/qIA8GVM7Ib

— ben (@nufcbenny) April 18, 2021

Keep on digging.

In Spain, Lionel Messi led Barcelona to another Copa del Rey title, with his side trouncing Bilbao 4-0.

Messi scored twice, but this goal was the undoubted highlight:

MESSI WHAT A GOAL 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/HqaBruyPXB

— MessiTeam (@Lionel10Team) April 17, 2021

Another angle, please:

This view of Messi’s goal.. INSANE pic.twitter.com/2MNAELbKnq

— J. (@MessiIizer) April 17, 2021

You know you’re a legend when your entire team wants a picture with you and the trophy:

They all wanted a trophy picture with Messi 📸

(🎥: @lachainelequipe)pic.twitter.com/OW0V1mi7EO

— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 17, 2021

Does this mean he’s leaving at the end of the season, when his contract expires? I guess time will tell.

This weekend’s rugby action featured another humdinger from New Zealand, with the Chiefs just pipping the Crusaders en route to their fourth straight win.

Yet again, nerves of steel from Damian McKenzie:

Chiefs in their last four #RugbyAotearoa matches:

✅ 29-35 win (A)
✅ 15-12 win (H)
✅ 23-26 win (A)
✅ 26-25 win (H)

Damian McKenzie converted this penalty in front of 18 500 fans at the Waikato Stadium to hand the Chiefs their fourth straight win in the competition. pic.twitter.com/2Qg5uHOixO

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 17, 2021

In Australia, the Force versus Waratahs match looked to be all over, until a superb late surge from the home side saw them seal a last-gasp win.

I won’t recommend you watch Australian rugby highlights often, but this is worth a shot, particularly the final few minutes:

There was some great Bok on Bok offload action in the match between Sale and Gloucester, with Faf de Klerk speeding over after a lovely pass from Rob du Preez:

Great offload from Rob du Preez for Faf de Klerk to score 🙌 #SaffasAbroad pic.twitter.com/v6YzwAw2iR

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) April 17, 2021

Sale won, but it was far from a perfect afternoon for du Preez, who was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Gloucester prop Val Rapava-Ruskin.

I don’t always watch Formula One, mainly because there’s always other sport on, but yesterday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a goodie.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his first win of the year, and props to Lewis Hamilton, who fought back from an early error to take second.

One of the major talking points was the crash between Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Williams’s George Russell, and tempers flared:

Russell and Bottas cames together!! pic.twitter.com/76vSCmLT0C

— Koke (@Kokefin) April 18, 2021

The men almost came to blows after the crash. Observe the ‘zap’ sign, and a less than friendly tap to the helmet:

#ImolaGP #bottas #fuck #russel First Reaction After Collision. pic.twitter.com/4oJj92dJuM

— LexLuther (@LexLuth09473902) April 18, 2021

You can watch the full race highlights by clicking on ‘Watch on YouTube’ below:

Let’s also take a moment to appreciate an even more dramatic race from a little while back.

All the way back to the 1904 Olympics Men’s Marathon.

Read the thread below:

The wikipedia page for the 1904 Olympics Men’s Marathon might be my favourite Wikipedia page ever pic.twitter.com/4s6zJYqk1U

— Sophia (@0ldoini) April 14, 2021

I’ll save you a Google – here’s the Wikipedia page.

Every proper cricket fan loves a ripper from a ‘leggie, and Matty Parkinson nailed a classic during the latest round of the English County Championship:

Matty Parkinson.

That is beautiful. pic.twitter.com/DwMNCARWTi

— Bowled Mate. (@BowledMate_) April 16, 2021

Hey, that looks a little like a rather famous delivery from a certain blonde bloke. Correct:

The balls of the centuries?#CountyCricket2021 pic.twitter.com/Ok4c50AB8p

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 16, 2021

Now that we’ve had our fun, we should cover our T20 series defeat to Pakistan.

The fourth match on Friday went down to the wire, when it looked like Pakistan were all set to cruise home, but the Proteas will be disappointed with the poor fielding and death bowling on the final stretch.

Then there’s our team selection, which again had most of the country scratching its head, with seven bowlers picked and Kyle Verreynne again left out.

We have lost four series in a row, and under Mark Boucher’s leadership, we have lost eight out of 11 series. Our former ‘keeper has a proven track record of success at domestic level, but it’s becoming increasingly tough to defend his performance heading up the national team.

Below, the full highlights of the fourth T20:

I would love to say things are rosier off the field, but they’re really not.

This weekend, the imbeciles who run cricket in this country again showed contempt for the game they are supposed to serve, setting us on course to potentially being excluded from international competition.

You can read more on that here.

If we are allowed to take part in the T20 World Cup later this year, a certain AB de Villiers has once again made it clear that he is open to a return.

We can debate the merits of his return at the expense of somebody who has represented us over the past few years all we want, but there’s no debate with regards to what he would bring to the team.

Still world-class, still destructive, and still punishing the best bowlers in the world at the IPL.

Yesterday, he clobbered an unbeaten 76 off 34 balls to help the Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory.

Click the image below and you’ll be redirected to watch the carnage.

Maybe if we can just win one international cricket tournament, we can rid ourselves of that ‘choker’ tag, and the floodgates will open.

I am aware that is entirely optimistic, but as my neighbourhood and my city is engulfed by smoke, I’m giving myself a pass.

Please be sure to tell your long-suffering partner that there will be an English Premier League match on each of the next eight days, so that there are no nasty surprises.

Have a lekker week.