Blast from the past: Plaatjes makes his mark at marathon world championships in Stuttgart

1937 — The Springboks lose their tour opener against the All Blacks at Athletic Park in Wellington 7-13. Legendary winger DO Williams scores the only try for the visitors, with centre Jimmy White adding a drop. New Zealand flyer John Dick dotted down for the hosts and flyhalf David Trevathan added a drop and two penalties.

1976 — The Springboks deliver an inept display as they go down 9-15 in the second Test against the All Blacks in Bloemfontein. Centre Joe Morgan scored the only try of the game to level the four-match series at 1-1. South African flyhalf Gerald Bosch landed three penalties. 

1976 — US-based student Jonty Skinner breaks the 100m freestyle world record at the US Amateur Athletic Union national championships in Philadelphia, taking more than half a second off the winning time set at the Montreal Olympics a few weeks before. Skinner, originally from East London, clocked 49.44 sec to improve on Jim Montgomery’s historic 49.99 mark, the first time anybody had dipped under 50 seconds. Skinner had been in the US on a student visa for three years by then, but failed to get his US citizenship in time for the Montreal Olympics. With the world governing body also recognising the 50m freestyle for the first time, Skinner was also awarded the 50m world record for his first leg of the race, which he completed in 23.83. His 100m mark stood until 1981 and the 50m record a little less than 11 months.   

1977 — Kork Ballington wins the first double of his career, taking the 350cc and 250cc races at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He went on to win six more doubles, three times in 1978 and three times in 1979. It was his last season riding a Yamaha, switching to Kawasaki after that.

1993 — Former South African Mark Plaatjes, who had relocated to the US to ensure his daughter didn’t grow up a second-class citizen under apartheid, wins the marathon world title at the championships in Stuttgart. He finished first in 2hr 13 min 57 sec after overhauling Namibian Luketz Swartbooi, second in 2:14:11, with about 2km to go.

1993 — Centres Jason Little and Tim Horan score three tries for Australia to beat the Springboks 28-20 in the second Test in Brisbane and level the three-match series at 1-1. South Africa dotted down twice, one by wing Jacques Olivier and the other by flyhalf Joel Stransky, who converted both and landed two penalties.

1998 — Pat Symcox scores 58 and Jonty Rhodes 54 as South Africa are bowled out for 201 to lose their ODI against Sri Lanka in Nottingham by 57 runs. The match was part of a triangular also featuring hosts England.

1999 — Centre Robbie Fleck scores the only try of the match as the Springboks down Australia 10-9 at Newlands to secure their only Tri-Nations win of the season. Flyhalf Jannie de Beer landed the conversion and a penalty.

2004 — Centre Marius Joubert scores a hat-trick as the Springboks trounce the All Blacks 40-26 in a Tri-Nations match at Ellis Park. Wings Jean de Villiers and Breyton Paulse also crossed the line.

2006 — The Proteas’ opening match of the ODI triangular tournament against hosts Sri Lanka in Colombo is abandoned without a ball being bowled because of a downpour. But a bomb blast at a shopping plaza that left seven people dead raised security concerns and the South African team, which had been staying at a nearby hotel, decided to withdraw from the tournament, which would have also featured India. Proteas fast bowlers Dale Steyn, Roger Telemachus and Andre Nel, had passed the site of the explosion just 10 minutes before. The Indians stayed on to play a three-match series against Sri Lanka.

2008 — Alicia Smith makes 68 to push the South African women to 158 on their way to losing the fourth ODI against England in Shenley by six wickets for a 0-4 series whitewash. The final fifth ODI was washed out.

2013 — Bafana Bafana go down 0-2 against African champions Nigeria in a friendly at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

2015 — The Proteas beat New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 in Durban, with Hashim Amla (48), Rilee Rossouw (38) and skipper AB de Villiers (33) ensuring they reached the 152-run target.

2016 — Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world 400m record as he wins Olympic gold at the Rio Games. The South African clocked 43.03 sec to smash the 43.18 mark the American had set at the 1999 world championships in Seville, Spain. That evening Akani Simbine became the first South African man in more than half a century to make the 100m final at the Olympics, where he ended fifth, just three-hundredths of a second off the podium.

2018 — The Proteas lose the one-off T20 match against Sri Lanka by three wickets. Batting first in Colombo, South Africa were bowled out for 98, with Quinton de Kock top-scoring on 20. The home side won with four overs remaining.

2021 — The Springboks run in three tries without reply to beat Argentina 32-12 in their Rugby Championship opener at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium. Cobus Reinach, Aphelele Fassi and Jaden Hendrikse dotted down for the home side.