BBK Unplugged podcast

While Springbok captain Siya Kolisi leads the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup, becoming the first black African to do so, the #SportsLIVE podcast charts the journey of players that come from places like Zwide, where Kolisi is from, and other rural Eastern Cape locations. What does it take for an underprivileged kid to make it in South African rugby? What do they do when they get to the lofty sur...

SportsLIVE podcast host Sbu Mjikeliso spent a week in Japan where he witnessed the Springboks lose to the All Blacks in a game that the South Africans controlled and bossed for large chunks. But they were hit by two All Black counter-punches from which they could never recover, although they made a valiant effort through Cheslin Kolbe's second half performance. What was it like to witness Japan ho...

The wait is over. The 2019 Rugby World Cup kicks off this weekend and the tournament comes out swinging with South Africa facing New Zealand in one of the competition's opening round matches. It's going to be a box office affair in Yokohama and SportsLIVE host Sbu Mjikeliso will be at the game to witness the action live. But before he left, he took a deep dive into some of the main talking points...

South Africa took plenty L's during the international window when no African country wanted to play a friendly against Bafana Bafana because of the xenophobic violence sweeping across the country. It's an indictment on how South Africans have treated foreign nationals of late and in the past and we had accomplished Sowetan journalists Tiyani wa ka Mabasa and Sihle Ndebele in the studio to unpack w...

Springbok Aphiwe Dyantyi tested positive for three banned substances, which was confirmed by his B sample that came back positive for multiple banned drugs, including steroids. This obviously sent social media into a spin and split the country into multiple different directions. Dyantyi stood by his initial comments, which were: "I have never cheated and never will." But the facts are damning. In...

Sbu Mjikeliso hosts former Bulls lock Mthunzi "Fudge" Mabeta and sports analyst Lunga Kupiso in an unmatched Springbok 2019 Rugby World Cup squad announcement special where they took a deep into Rassie Erasmus's 31-man squad that's headed for Japan. Fudge clarified the technicalities that go into the lineout, which he reckons not a lot of teams pay enough close attention to. "The philosophies of t...

Former SA Junior Springbok and Lions lock MB Lusaseni cut his career tragically short at the age of 26, and in this candid part 2 of his exclusive chat with Sbu Mjikeliso, he tackles his last season with the Lions, which saw some questionable rotation policies being put in place. Lusaseni and Sbu also delved into the enigma that was MB's old teammate Howard Mnisi, the mercurial No 12, who was an i...

Former Lions and Junior Springbok lock MB Lusaseni revealed how much he used to earn as an entry level rugby player from the Eastern Cape when he arrived at one of the biggest rugby academies in the country. Moreover, he was playing for the Junior Springboks with the likes of Lionel Mapoe, which was coached by Eric Sauls. In this thrilling MB Lusaseni exclusive Part1, the East London-born lock als...

The new Premier Soccer League season began with clinical performances from the traditional PSL Big Three – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – all began the season with impressive victories over Highlands Park, Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United, respectively. The Big Three laid the marker down early in the season. The opening weekend extravaganza also saw whimsical perfo...

The football season that's about to begin could not as for a better appetizer than the Soweto Derby during the Carling Black Label Cup. But does it truly serve as a yardstick? Thembinkosi Lorch, who scored another scorching goal – adding to his sizzling Bafana Bafana Africa Cup of Nations form – gives us a glimpse into what we should expect during this upcoming Premier Soccer League 2019/20 season...

There's much ado about plenty since South Africa closed the chapter on its finest performance at the Africa Cup of Nations of the past decade in Egypt and plenty of it has to do with the future of Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter. We take a look at the implications of him remaining in his position and host Sbu Mjikeliso gives a rather unpopular, contrarian view, that Baxter must stay. What, exact...

Sunday July 14 will not be a day that's easily forgotten. How can it? When it had the longest and possibly top two most thrilling Wimbledon men's final of all time, contested by the grass court king Roger Federer and modern great Novak Djokovic? And what about the Cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand that was tied after 50 overs had been bowled for either team? It then went to t...

Bafana Bafana crashed the party in Egypt. Not only did they cause mass depression for the Africa Cup of Nations hosts but they created a storm in the Egyptian FA, which led to the resignation of their president Hany Abo Rida. Rida didn't go down alone. He fired the team's Mexican head coach Javier Aguirre and the rest of the Egypt technical staff, in an unprecedented mass sweep. There was heavy cr...

Cricket's future is on the line and some drastic decisions need to be made to turn the pathetic Proteas around and to get Cricket South Africa back on an even keel. The Proteas lost to major tournament rivals England, India, New Zealand and Pakistan, not forgetting Bangladesh, in the Cricket World Cup tournament in the UK. By the time they faced and beat Sri Lanka, their final tournament matches (...

South African sports has gone through the most in the sporting world this month, can Bafana Bafana bring some respite? Their Africa Cup of Nations tournament did not get off to the best possible start, losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast on Monday but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. We chat to Tiso Blackstar's digital sports journalist Marc Strydom, who is in Egypt for the Afcon tournament...

South African sports has gone through the most in the sporting world this month, can Bafana Bafana bring some respite? Their Africa Cup of Nations tournament did not get off to the best possible start, losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast on Monday but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. We chat to Tiso Blackstar's digital sports journalist Marc Strydom, who is in Egypt for the Afcon tournament...

Premier Soccer League chairman Dr Irvin Khoza spoke to SportsLIVE podcast host Sbu Mjikeliso about the ICASA public hearings into the draft sports broadcast regulations that threaten to shake up the broadcasting game. Dr Khoza insists that there is no research proving that the "masses" are being deprived of local football, which is what the communications regulator is trying to address. "Looking a...

In the second episode of the SportsLIVE Podcast Sbu Mjikeliso is again joined by sports journalist Daniel Gallan via Skype from the UK, who lifts the lid on the soapie kind of week that's unfolded since news leaked that AB de Villiers made a minibus taxi-style late U-Turn after asking to join the Proteas World Cup team. Daniel reveals that as far back the Mzansi Super League in December, coach Ott...

In the first episode of the SportsLIVE podcast we review the Proteas’ first two Cricket World Cup games and what went horribly wrong there. We chat to sports scribe Daniel Gallan, based in the UK and was at the massacre at the Oval where Bangladesh beat SA by 21 runs. We also delve deep in to the subject of religion and sports – is there a line and can it be crossed? Host Sbu Mjikeliso chats with...