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Wales and South Africa will sign off the 2024 rugby season this weekend when they lock horns in the Autumn Nations Series at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday evening. South Africa are set to end the year as the number-one ranked team in world rugby, while Wales will finish outside the top 10 and potentially winless in over 14 months. © Imago Wales could really use a win to end the year having failed to manage a victory in 2024, but facing the four-time world champions and Rugby Championship winners does bode well for their chances. It would be an incredible way for the Dragons to sign off the year if they were to win this match, but most would agree that expectations are not high after seeing their performances against Fiji and Australia over the last couple of weeks. Warren Gatland 's side were dealt their first defeat on home soil 24-19 by the Pacific Islanders on November 10, which was their 10th consecutive loss since beating Georgia at the World Cup last October. Regardless of who one may support, it was genuinely tough to watch Gatland's press conference last week following the 52-20 thumping his side were handed by the Wallabies, where the majority of the questions he faced were around whether he is considering quitting his post as head coach after this final match of the year. To his credit, the Welsh boss has handled the criticism remarkably well and has remained open about the issues the side faces and the ambition moving forward, though with a six-day turnaround and with the world champs coming to town, it is tough to see the hosts coming out on top in this one. © Imago Meanwhile, South Africa come into this match off the back of a thrilling battle against England at Twickenham Stadium last week, where they managed to secure a 29-20 victory in a match that hung in the balance for the best part of the 80 minutes. However, as has become almost customary, the Springboks managed to shift up a gear when it mattered most and found a way to hold off a charging English attack late on to lock down their spot at the top of the world standings. Heading into 2025, South Africa look set up for another big year, with Rassie Erasmus clearly taking care of his squad depth by integrating plenty of new blood, fielding more than 50 players over the course of this season. For the most part, the new faces in the famous Green and Gold have fitted seamlessly into the squad, with the team conceding just two defeats in 12 Tests this year, both of which were by just a single point. The Springboks have made winning ugly fashionable again, something that Wales were known for in the past, and given their form at the moment, it is not surprising to see the Southern Hemisphere giants showing up as massive favourites to end the year with a big win. Wales form (all competitions): South Africa form (all competitions): © Imago In what many feel could be his last match in charge, Gatland has made wholesale changes to his squad this week with Rio Dyer , Sam Costelow , Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all being brought into the starting lineup. We could also see a potential debut for the the impressive Gloucester lock Freddie Thomas , who is named on the bench, while his clubmate Josh Hathaway also joins the reserves for this weekend's match. Ox Nche was expected to keep his place in the front row despite sustaining a cut above his knee last week, but Erasmus made a somewhat surprising decision to leave the in-form prop out of the matchday squad, opting for Wilco Louw instead. As a result, Thomas du Toit was initially named as the starting tighthead, but he will now move to the loosehead side of the scrum, with Johan Grobbelaar positioned between the two props in place of Bongi Mbonambi . Wales starting lineup: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Eddie James, 23 Josh Hathaway South Africa starting lineup: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Thomas du Toit Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Handre Pollard There is a massive gulf in class between these two sides at this moment, and we feel that there is very little that Wales will be able to do to avoid a heavy defeat at the hands of the mighty Springboks in this one. No Data Analysis info

Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary says he’s ahead of schedule after returning to training on Thursday just five weeks after shoulder surgery, hoping to develop a relationship with new recruit Blaize Talagi as the Panthers plot a path to what would be a staggering fifth-straight NRL premiership. It comes as the 27-year-old revealed the extreme dit measures he is taking while away from partner Mary Fowler on the comeback trail. Talagi, who crossed to the reigning champions from Parramatta, looms as the replacement in the halves for Jarome Luai, the latest in a lengthy line of premiership winners who have left in recent seasons. Both Talagi and superstar Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards have also had shoulder surgery in the off-season, but all could be available for their first game in Las Vegas, with Cleary looking good during Thursday’s session. The four-time premiership winner was with teammates at Nepean Hospital on Friday afternoon spreading Christmas cheer, with the locals stoked to see their main man looking so good just weeks after major surgery to repair a shoulder injury that plagued him in pre-season and ruled him out for a few weeks on the eve of the finals. “It’s pretty much a three or four month recovery so it’s been good so far. I came back to training yesterday (on Thursday) and it’s been good so far,” Cleary told NewsWire. “I’m slowly ticking the boxes and then it’ll start ramping up after Christmas. I’m a little bit ahead of schedule which is cool. “There are a few guys at the club who have come back from shoulder surgery and everyone is doing really well. We’re all progressing well together.” Cleary hasn’t been able to do full contact or major ball work, with the champion playmaker set to spend the pre-season building a relationship with 19-year-old Talagi. But it won’t be a simple swap for Luai, given Cleary and his former five-eighth spent a decade together coming through the junior grades before becoming a dominant pairing in the NRL. They were Batman and Robin for so long that everything felt second nature which is why Cleary doesn’t want to make any bold predictions about Talagi who is battling with Jack Cole for the number six jersey. “I don’t have any expectations at the moment,” he said. “He has come back in really good shape for a guy who had his shoulder done a week after me and he’s absolutely flying. “I’ve been getting to know him these past couple of days. He’s actually my locker neighbour so that’s been nice. “He’s a shy young kid but he’s really willing to learn. If you tell him something then he takes it on board straight away, and he’s a quick learner. “I don’t have any expectations yet, but I played him last season and know that he’s a great player with great talent, but he’s also got a lot to learn. “I just want to get to know him as a person first and help him where I can on the training field. “There’s a long way to go before round one comes around, and there are other guys who are putting their hands up for the number six position. It’s really healthy competition.” Cleary could invite Talagi over for dinner to share a few ideas where the teenager would be treated to sea moss, steaks, scrambled eggs and then some bone broth and more sea moss for dessert. It’s all part of Cleary’s carnivore diet which he turned to while dealing with repeated hamstring injuries which limited him to a career-low 13 matches in 2024. “When I was going through the hammy troubles last year, I wanted to have a clean slate and take a step back to look at everything I was doing,” he revealed. “If there was anything I could do to help me in any way then I’d do it. “The carnivore stuff isn’t full-time. I use it here and there as a bit of a cleanse and then I add fruit and sweet potato back in after that. “I just want to be more conscious of my diet and try to do any little one-percenters that will keep me on the field. “I go through periods where I’m quite disciplined, but after a game I’ll have a little treat here and there to keep a healthy balance. “I’ve been feeling really good, particularly in my gut, with my recovery time and my mental clarity.”

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Elegant Wooden Jewelry Display Stand Set - The Perfect Solution for Showcasing Jewelry Collection"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.Syria's Druze hope for better future without Assad

Mustafa Ali recently looked back at his release from WWE, his near-win of Money in the Bank and more. Ali was a guest on Insight With Chris Van Vliet and the show sent us along some highlights, which you can check out below: On his WWE release: “Not surprised that it happened. Surprised when it did happen? Yeah. I was in NXT at the time, and I actually had a pay-per-view match scheduled that weekend with Dominik Mysterio for the North American Championship.” On if he was going to win the North American Championship if the match happened: “I don’t believe anything until it happens. But yeah, I don’t mind sharing. I think that was the plan. But mind you, the plan was actually to put the North American Championship on me months prior. But WWE is so smart with advertising and contract negotiations. So NXT, the network deal was coming up. Shawn Michaels in NXT is awesome. He explains to me, ‘Hey, we’re gonna put the North American Championship on you.’ What happens is the network deal is coming up and this is when Judgment Day, specifically Dom, is just white hot. I mean, they’re still white hot right now, but Dom was next level right there. So they were like, ‘Hey, everyone in Judgment Day has a championship. We want to put a championship on Dom, and we want to spike the ratings for NXT.’ Because the idea is if you spike the ratings with the contract negotiations this helps you. So this is when Seth was coming and Becky was coming. So I get a call from Shawn, ‘Hey, we’re actually putting the championship on Dom, and here’s a reason...’ I go yeah, that makes total sense, awesome, do it. I didn’t expect it coming. Dom’s gonna come and challenge Wes Lee and beat him, great. So we do that. Then we do a three-way match, which was super fun with Dom, me and Wes Lee. And then [Shawn] is like Hey, Dom is needed back on the main roster. Poor guy was working six days a week. So I think that was a plan. Was it a surprise? No, because I saw WWE stock and WWE in general going this way [up], and my stock just going this way [down].” On Money in the Bank: “So yeah, I show up to Money in the Bank, and they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re winning it.’ I go what?! Okay, cool. So this is so funny because I’m one of the shorter guys in the match. So they actually had me climb up the ladder so they could adjust the briefcase so it was within grabbing distance of me. All day we’re putting this match together. Everyone’s like, ‘Hey, man, Congrats.’ [I’m like] Yeah, this is awesome. I was like maybe I can get this briefcase to light up, because I was wearing the light-up stuff at the time. I’m thinking this is one of those cloud 9 moments, I can’t believe this is happening, because it’s not happening. “So the match is about to start. Entrances have started. I want to say Baron Corbin is making his entrance. I don’t know why, I just have his music in my head. I have a very funny visual for you. So I’m wearing this light-up mask and I’m wearing this jacket that lights up and I have a glove, and they all kind of pulsate with lights, obviously. Jamie Noble comes up ‘Hey, boss man wants to talk to you. Go talk to the boss.’ I was like, Okay. The entrances are happening. Vince is looking up and I come over. Now mind you Gorilla is completely dark, so I just have these red lights that are flashing on Vince’s face and he’s all shadowy. So you can see the picture that I see. He goes ‘Change of plans. Do the match, everything you called. When the time is right I want you to climb up the ladder and grab the briefcase. Someone’s going to come out. I want you to hold the briefcase and just have shock on your face. He’s gonna run down, tip the ladder over, and you stay down. Do you understand?’ And again, my lights are just flashing on his face, so I see what he’s saying but there’s a moment where he goes black and it’s red, black and it’s red. I’m like, ‘Copy that, sir.’ I just walk away I’m like, It’s Brock. Who else could it be? I’m walking, I’m like, whatever. My music is hitting. So he literally told me [right before]. None of the guys in the match know. Finn didn’t know. Randy didn’t know, Baron Corbin is in the match, Drew McIntyre, Andrade. No one knew. I’m the only guy that knows. I’m walking down, I’m just focused on the match at this point. The match happens, climbing up the thing and man, it’s just like, I know everyone’s like well why didn’t you just grab the briefcase? I want to be like, because my boss told me.” “So I climb up, I grab it. Brock’s music hits. They cut to him. I do the slip. You don’t see it, but when I’m looking down Brock hits a ladder out of the way, and it just completely annihilates a cameraman named Rico. Just hits him in the head. He goes down, he needs stitches. I’m watching this and I’m like he’s gonna murder me! I hope I’m not destroying the mystique of Brock here, but what a pro. Gets in the ring, grabs me, looks up to me. He’s like, ‘Hey, kid you ready?’ And I’m like yeah? He goes ‘Okay, nice and easy, one, two.’ And the thing is, he was so nice about the push that I was expecting this violent thing that I hurled myself off the ladder and I ended up hitting the top rope with my mouth, cutting my mouth, completely my fault, hurting myself, and I go down. He’s just pros pro man. I’m saying that, but you can see if you watch it back, if you cut to the clip of the guys on the floor selling, they’re all very unamused that this match happened that way.” On being eliminated from the Royal Rumble by Nia Jax: “So that spot wasn’t originally for me. I don’t know who it was for, but someone was not very much okay with getting eliminated by a woman. And I’m at this point where I’m trying to prove that I’m a pro’s pro. I’m down for whatever. I can kind of see, I think it was Jamie Noble because it was some sort of frantic search. I looked at Jamie and I was like, ‘What’s the spot?’ He looked at me and he goes, ‘Would you be okay with it?’ I just go, ‘Yep. What is it?’ He goes, ‘Well, Nia is gonna beat up R-Truth and then she’s gonna take everyone’s finisher. But before she does that I just need her to throw somebody [out].’ I don’t know who the original person is. I really don’t know. But I remember going it’s a scripted show. It’s fine. Me and Nia are homies. “So I remember I told Nia hey, I’ll do it. And she was so like, thank you. I could see the sense of relief. So I could see why some people were like, oh man, that made you look weak. I go Nia is shoot strong as hell and could pick up anyone in this room right now, and she tossed me over. So we did the thing with Nia. I do the whole [thing] I’m not gonna hit you. I did this thing and then she head-butted me, picked me up. Gets talked about to this day. Actually, I think the RKO and the 619 she took in the Royal Rumble gets talked more. But yeah, it was a moment. I could see how some of the guys were like I wouldn’t have done that. But one, I didn’t have a problem with it and two, I was looking like, I think that goes a long way to like Vince and to like Bruce. This guy didn’t have a problem getting the spot over because that’s a moment. That’s what we want to do. We want to create moments. That was the honest intention behind it. So yeah, it wasn’t originally designed for me from what I understand.”

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