[imagesource: Sky Sport]

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.

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Garrick Higgo – remember the name.

If you’re not up to speed with South African golf, just know that the 21-year-old is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most exciting talents on the European Tour.

Yesterday, he wrapped up a six-shot win at the Canary Islands Championship in Spain, finishing on a whopping -27.

His Sunday 64 also included a hole-in-one, the first of his career, at the seventh:

🚨 HOLE IN ONE 🚨@garrick_higgo just made the first hole in one of his professional career!

He now leads the #CanaryIslandsChampionship by six shots. pic.twitter.com/ixkiXkSy0T

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 9, 2021

The win is his third on the European Tour, in just his 26th event, making him the fastest South African to rack up three titles (with some caveats), and the fourth-youngest in the world to three European Tour wins.

He now sits 51 in the world rankings, and South Africa can boast 10 players ranked inside the top 100 in the world.

Louis Oosthuizen, at 32nd, remains the top-ranked SA player, but with Higgo’s hot streak that may not last too long.

From the golf course to the race track, and it was a familiar face atop the podium after yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton bested the field at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, fighting back after losing the lead in the opening lap to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

On lap 60, Hamilton made his move, overtaking Verstappen en route to his fifth straight Spanish GP title:

The winning move! #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kKTnx5apaf

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 9, 2021

If you want to watch the official race highlights, click ‘Watch on YouTube’ below:

Super Rugby Aotearoa also saw a familiar champion, with the Crusaders winning their fifth Super Rugby crown in a row.

It was a reasonably comfortable 24-13 win for the men from Christchurch on their home turf, despite being reduced to 13 men for a period in the second half.

Ultimately, Richie Mo’unga was a class apart, once again showing why he is so highly regarded:

Crusaders coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson will feel he’s due a shot at international level soon enough, and he celebrated yet another title with his customary breakdancing display:

Certainly a better coach than a dancer, but you have to love the enthusiasm.

Super Rugby AU’s final between the Reds and the Brumbies was a real humdinger, with the home side scoring well after the hooter to win their first silverware in 10 years.

Skip ahead to just after the 5:20 mark below and you can see those final few dramatic minutes play out, before James O’Connor slid over and sent the Reds players and the crowd into delirium:

Oh, what I would give to watch a live sporting encounter, with more than 41 000 fans going bonkers at Suncorp Stadium.

Elsewhere, how about this for a finish from the Rugby League match between the Broncos and the Cowboys?

Wait for it 🐙pic.twitter.com/f26oywqavR

— Ben Coles (@bencoles_) May 8, 2021

The commentator is on the money with that periscope comment.

As much as I like to poke fun at the English (32-12, and today is day 555 of 1 449 as world champions, so that won’t end any time soon), it’s impossible not to feel for Kyle Sinckler, who was one of the shock omissions from the British & Irish Lions touring squad for the series later this year.

Speaking after being named man of the match for the Bristol Bears this weekend, he just about held it together:

“It means so much to me.

“In a year or two i’ll look back on it and it’ll all make sense, but right now it doesn’t.”

Incredible honesty from @BristolBears‘ @KyleSinckler.

Visibly emotional, he discusses how it felt to miss out on #LionsRugby selection. pic.twitter.com/60H30rku4R

— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) May 8, 2021

That should serve as inspiration for the players fortunate enough to be picked for what promises to be a bumper tour.

SA Rugby Mag shared the revised schedule, which is as follows:

The Springboks will have just the two warm-up tests to prepare, against Georgia on July 3, and again on July 10.

I’ll do us all a favour and skip the results of the latest round of the Rainbow Cup SA, because I’ve grown rather tired of watching our teams play each other nonstop.

That being said, I’ll never tire of watching the English Premier League teams doing battle, and this weekend’s action kicked off with Champions League-chasing Leicester City taking on Newcastle United, who had just about secured safety from relegation.

I would be delighted if my beloved Magpies were under a new manager by the start of the next season, but you can’t fault Steve Bruce’s efforts in recent times, and this was right up there with the best performance of the season.

The Toon rushed out to a 4-0 lead, and although there were some late jitters, the 4-2 win means they’ll be safe if Fulham fails to beat Burnley later tonight.

Any excuse to watch these again:

Leeds United also put on a real show, as has become customary, and with West Ham losing to Everton, Marcelo Bielsa’s chances of being crowned manager of the season grow stronger by the week.

The 3-1 win over Spurs bumped them up to 9th in the table (now 10th following Arsenal’s victory over relegated West Brom), and a top-half finish for any newly promoted side is always worthy of high praise.

It’s the quality of the football Leeds play, though, and the fearless nature of their unrelenting determination to stick to their guns, that has really made them such a favourite with neutrals.

Leeds’ third goal was a thing of beauty:

Liquid football from Leeds 💧

(via @LUFC)pic.twitter.com/30BoxMjVrp

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 9, 2021

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City had the chance to wrap up the title with a win over Chelsea, and it looked all but in the bag after they took a 1-0 lead and Sergio Aguero stood over a penalty.

Instead, Aguero, in his final season with the club, tried a panenka penalty which failed dismally, and Chelsea scored late on to clinch a 2-1 win.

Here’s that horrid penalty:

Seeing Aguero trying to panenka Mendy is the best thing I’ve seen today. 😂 pic.twitter.com/w6M3iUsBoM

— sheeeeeeeesh (@BackSquid69) May 8, 2021

To watch the full match highlights, click ‘Watch on YouTube’ below:

Manchester City can feel pretty hard done by, given that Raheem Sterling had a huge penalty shout turned down right at the death, before Chelsea went on to snatch the winner.

Guardiola didn’t mince his words when asked about what he thought of the final few minutes:

It’s safe to say Pep was not a happy man in his post-match interview. #MCICHE #bbcfootball

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 8, 2021

The Spanish title race is all set to go down to the wire, with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona playing to a 0-0 draw on Saturday.

That gave Real Madrid the chance to go top with a win at Sevilla, but they needed a late Eden Hazard goal, via a deflected Toni Kroos shot, to nick a point.

Probably the most meaningful contribution of Hazard’s season, which isn’t saying much.

The draw means that with three matches to play, Atletico is still out in front with 77 points, whilst Real Madrid and Barcelona are both on 75 points.

Anyone’s for the taking, and always great to see one of Europe’s major leagues headed for a tight finish.

The Italian title race is already over, with Inter Milan steamrolling the rest of the league, but it’s Juventus’ struggles which are being closely watched.

A heavy defeat to AC Milan yesterday saw Juventus drop into fifth place, and out of the Champions League spots, with three matches to go.

They still have Inter to play, and failure to qualify for Europe’s premier competition will see Cristiano Ronaldo itching for a move.

Manchester United fans will be watching on closely, I assume.

Rather than show you the match highlights (watch those here), let’s see AC Milan’s Franck Kessié schooling highly-rated defender Matthijs De Ligt:

Franck Kessié sending De Ligt back to Ajax 😲 pic.twitter.com/yYPluSS8o1

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 9, 2021

Robert Lewandowski has made a fool out of countless defenders over the years, and this weekend he bagged his fifth Bundesliga hattrick of the season, crossing 200 league goals for Bayern Munich in the process.

The Pole now has 39 goals scored in 27 league appearances this season, and is on the cusp of breaking Gerd Muller’s legendary 40 goal single-season scoring record in the German top flight.

He now has 201 goals for the German champions in just 217 appearances, and you wonder if there isn’t some temptation for him to serve as part of a deal to take Erling Haaland from Dortmund to Bayern.

Dortmund would secure a world-class striker who still has a few good years under his belt, and Bayern would land the hottest player on the market (nobody is getting near Kylian Mbappé).

As with every off-season, we await the rumour rill kicking into overdrive.

Dortmund, without Haaland, managed a late 3-2 win over RB Leipzig, which means they’re currently sitting in fourth spot and Champions League qualification:

Jadon Sancho to Manchester United – you’ll never hear the end of it in the months to come.

What does that leave us with? Of course, cricket.

With the IPL being suspended due to India’s truly dire COVID-19 situation, it’s slim pickings.

Pakistan humbled Zimbabwe in the second test match between the two, winning by an innings and 147 runs, with Abid Ali hitting an unbeaten 215.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) may have been saved from the precipice recently, but there is still a war waging as the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has officially rejected the majority independent board at CSA.

In other words, the seemingly neverending struggle to ensure good governance continues, whilst the game and those who play it professionally in this country suffer.

On a more upbeat note, there is English Premier League footie every night this week, to get you through to Friday.

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