Archive September 12, 2025

“Please, can my son swap jerseys with you? He speaks so highly of you, and it would be his dream.”

Number eight Aseza Hele received the message on social media before South Africa played their final pool game at the Women’s Rugby World Cup against France.

The 30-year-old struggled to comprehend why a young boy from England wanted the shirt of someone from the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

A hat-trick of tries against Brazil, followed by another score in a win over Italy that sent South Africa’s women into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, was why.

And Hele, a destructive runner who has been one of the stars of the tournament, was happy to oblige.

“When we finished playing [against France], I saw a big sign saying, ‘Hele, can I swap shirts with you?'” Hele told BBC Sport.

“I asked him to come through, and I said I’d meet him at the gate when I came out.

“I didn’t swap with any of the French girls because I had kept my shirt for him. And when I got there, he was waiting and smiling. That really warmed my heart. I thought ‘Aseza, you are doing good’.

“I’ve inspired young boys, not just girls. It warmed my heart to make someone’s dream come true.”

Once Hele finished that sentence, the tears started.

That moment in Northampton signified how far not only Hele has come, but South African women’s rugby as a whole.

Hele grew up in the same neighbourhood in Port Elizabeth as the Springboks’ two-time World Cup-winning men’s captain Siya Kolisi.

A place she described as one where a lot of “deep, deep things” happen.

Raised by her grandmother, Hele only started playing rugby in 2014, after joining a training session as a way to do some further running to stay fit for netball.

An injury meant an extra player was needed, and Hele was told that whatever happens, “just go forward”. She hasn’t looked back since.

A first Springbok cap came five years later, followed by her first World Cup appearance in 2022.

“Rugby has changed my life. I am the person I am today because of where I came from and the choices I made,” she added.

“Now, I’m able to feed my family because of rugby. I have my car because of rugby. My first flight was because of rugby.

The women’s team lacks the same player pool, investment, and infrastructure as the men’s side in South Africa.

They are rarely favourites, unlike the four-time world champion Springboks.

Siya Kolisi regularly attends Springbok Women matches and training sessions, with his plea on social media for others to join him at WXV2 in Cape Town last year becoming a standout moment in the growth of the women’s game in South Africa.

A thrilling victory over Italy in York made history for the women’s team, but the work Kolisi has done behind the scenes has not gone unnoticed.

“He’s the warmest and nicest person ever. He cares about us and wants us to have what they have,” former Harlequins number eight Hele said.

“What he has, he likes to share. He’s sharing the love from his family with us so we can do well.

“His support has been massive for us. People came because he called them out on social media.

Ranked 10th in the world, South Africa face world champions New Zealand in Exeter on Saturday.

As underdog stories go, it doesn’t get much tougher.

The Black Ferns come into the game off an impressive 40-0 win over Ireland and are eyeing a third straight World Cup.

But Hele has already gone from working as a cashier to playing at a Rugby World Cup – in her eyes, anything is possible.

“The only goal we had as a team was to make the quarters, so at least we ticked that box,” she added.

“We didn’t fail our people or ourselves, and we made ourselves proud, that is the most important thing.

The Premier League returns this weekend after the international break, and many Fantasy Premier League managers may have a conundrum on their hands.

Liverpool signed Alexander Isak from Newcastle for a British-record £125m on transfer deadline day and the question now is whether he will start at Burnley on Sunday.

Do Fantasy Premier League managers gamble and throw him into their teams? Or do you leave him out for Gameweek 4?

Holly Shand: I think the key for Gameweek 4 is to stick with the Liverpool assets you have, do not buy or sell this week until the starters become clear. There’s the appealing fixture of Burnley away, but there’s no guarantee Isak starts in that game. He has had a disrupted August where he hasn’t trained consistently or played any competitive minutes. He only played 18 minutes across two fixtures for Sweden over the international break and so it would be a surprise to be on the team sheet this weekend.

Holly Shand: Going forward, Isak will dominate in the number nine role, which could see Cody Gakpo and Ekitike in a battle for minutes on the left. Liverpool begin their Champions League campaign against Atletico Madrid next midweek, where they’ll need this squad depth. Ekitike has had another 400,000 new owners ahead of Gameweek 4, having delivered three goal involvements in the opening three gameweeks, with only Mohamed Salah more highly owned from this Liverpool team. Only Joao Pedro and Erling Haaland have scored more fantasy points among forwards than Ekitike.

Statman Dave: I think Gakpo’s minutes will be limited with Ekitike potentially playing on the left. With Ekitike’s two goals and assists I doubt he would be the one who is dropped. Gakpo would see more minutes off the bench or start and then get taken off with Isak the long-term player. Isak will score a lot of points and him and Mo Salah complement each other. There is lots of talk that Salah is the main guy and everything goes through Salah, so Isak won’t get anything, but that is rubbish. Salah is not playing anywhere near the level we expect but how they complement just makes more sense. Isak is the opportunity to feet, Salah can stretch the back line – it works.

UFC chief Dana White’s fiery exchange with a reporter about his new role in boxing threatened to overshadow a news conference for the super-fight between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

Mexican Alvarez, 35, will put his WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and IBF super-middleweight titles on the line against Crawford at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Omaha-native Crawford, 37, is jumping up two weight classes in a bid to become the first male boxer to become undisputed champion in three divisions in the modern era.

In front of a fiercely pro-Alvarez crowd, the pair went through the usual news conference motions, a mixture of respect and declarations of victory.

Questions raised about the Muhammad Ali Act – a 2000 US law designed to protect boxers’ rights and combat potential monopolies – sparked a fiery response from White.

“This is obviously a long discussion. If you want to talk about that then set up an interview. This isn’t about me,” White said.

When the reporter, Sean Zittel, persisted, White cut him short: “You have a question for these two, no? Beat it.”

White is spearheading a push to amend the act, which does not apply to MMA, allowing the UFC to make their own world titles.

Critics argue White’s UFC model in boxing would restrict fighters with exclusive contracts, create a monopoly and leaves boxers earning a far smaller share of event revenue.

About 1,500 fans – including British rapper Stormzy and boxing legend Lennox Lewis – packed into the T-Mobile Arena, just a short walk from Saturday’s venue.

A partisan crowd held up Mexican flags and chanted “Canelo” from the moment Alvarez walked on stage and he soaked up the adulation.

“This fight for me is big. One of the biggest fights in my career. It means a lot. It’s going to be very top,” he said.

Alvarez dismissed any suggestion of fighting Crawford a year ago, citing the size difference. But he agreed with an assessment of it being a 50-50 contest.

“I think they right. Two of the best fighting each other. They right,” he said.

Crawford – who last fought 13 months ago when he beat Israil Madrimov to win a world title in a fourth division – was unmoved by the noise in the arena.

Crawford, with 41 wins and 31 knockouts, won his first world title in 2014 at lightweight against Scotsman Ricky Burns. He went on to unify the light-welterweight and welterweight divisions before moving up again.

Saturday’s bout will be broadcast globally on Netflix, reaching a potential audience of more than 300 million subscribers.

It is the first major boxing event promoted by White alongside Saudi’s Turki Alalshikh, signalling a new, if uncertain, era for the sport.

As organisers hyped up the new partnership as the saviour of the sport and suggested boxing has been suffering for years, one of its biggest stars – and highest earners with a reported $150m purse to collect on Saturday – Alvarez, chimed in.

“Hey, boxing was always bigger, bigger and big. Don’t say boxing is not big enough. You know how big is boxing,” he said.