Daily shot of Express-o - MyTwoCents

johnnyrocket - MyTwoCents

Daily sports briefs | Warrick Gelant's Stormers move creates jigsaw puzzle, UFC GOAT war hots up, TB12 gives Charles Barkley a wedgie - and more!

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GELANT'S STORMERS MOVE CREATES JIGSAW PUZZLE

Warrick Gelant's move to the Stormers has created a complicated jigsaw puzzle for the Springbok management team. Let's backtrack slightly first though. Dillyn Leyds' move to France opened up a spot at fullback for the Stormers which lead to talk that this could actually be Damian Willemse's best position rather than fullback and that a shift into that slot could be on the table. Gelant's recruitment suggests that Willemse will stick to flyhalf. That seems all well and good at the Stormers but how does it impact the Springbok picture? Assuming that Willie Le Roux retires (recommended with respect), there is stiff competition at No 15 with Aphelele Fassi leading the charge. Gelant would also be a strong candidate as would Willemse if that was the position he was being groomed for. Flyhalf? Also complicated. Handre Pollard owns that position with Elton Jantjies as his deputy and Curwin Bosch banging on the door as back-up. So where does that leave Willemse?

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: These types of headaches are what coaches love to have. Unless Willemse is content to play the role of utility back on the Bok bench, our view is that his best position may actually be at centre. His kicking game, for poles and in open play, is just not good enough to be considered international standard. That said, he has great hands and a wicked sidestep and it would be sad to see it wasted on the bench.

BRADY GIVES BARKLEY A WEDGIE

One of the highlights of the "Champions for Charity" match-up between Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning v Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady was Brady holing a wedge from 110 yards for a birdie on the 7th. Brady had copped a mountain of abuse from fans and celebrities to that point for his below par play, with NBA icon Charles Barkley speculating that Brady couldn't even hit the planet let alone the green on one hole. Brady got the last laugh with his wedge earning a $100k donation to charity from Brooks Koepka and the chance for Brady to bite back at Barkley "I thought this was CHAMPIONS for charity Chuck ..." - a reference to Charles Barkley's lack of titles won.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: The Charity Match 2 was a way slicker version than the one between Tiger and Phil in 2018 and also raised $20m for charity.

UFC GOAT WAR HOTS UP

Conor McGregor lit up a fresh Twitter war over the weekend with his UFC GOAT list that featured himself at No 2 (Anderson Silva at No 1) and Jon Jones down at No 4. Unsurprisingly this triggered a wave of responses from those involved in the conversation. Khabib Nurmagomedov was the first to land a bomb with "You greatest UFC fighter in Twitter history", while Jones took a more measured approach posting a list of most wins in UFC title bouts that did not feature McGregor anywhere and had the caption "where you at GOAT?". Nate Diaz couldn't hold himself back, taking a JAB at Jones' doping record by adding a syringe emoji to the caption "No one's gonna remember your fights."

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: The UFC Twitter wars are sometimes as entertaining as the fights themselves. As for our UFC GOAT ... Canadian George St-Pierre gets our vote.

PERRY REPLACES CORNER WITH GIRLFRIEND

UFC star Mike Perry has taken the unconventional move of firing his entire corner for his next fight(s) and replacing them with his girlfriend. Perry who has lost 5 of his last 7 fights had the following to say: "All I need the corner for is to pass me the bottle of water, wipe my head off or put the ice on my neck when I get hot coming in between the rounds ... I don't need no advice." Perry is being lined up to fight Darren Till at Dana White's Fight Island.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: He probably needed to try something different after that run of form.