Bavuma says Proteas can learn a lot from Springboks who are the “epitome of success”

By Ayanda Nyuswa

Following the Springboks back-to-back Rugby World Cup wins and success in the 2024 Rugby Championship, which coincided with the Proteas troubling form in white ball Cricket, captain Temba Bavuma believes his side can learn a lot from Rassie Erasmus’ Springbok team and described them as the “epitome of success” for any sports team in the world. Bavuma spoke ahead of the Proteas 3-match ODI series against Ireland that is going to start on Wednesday in Abhu Dhabi (13:30 SA time). 

The Proteas Men’s team has fallen on troubling times in recent months as they struggle to balance the building of squad depth by introducing young players and winning matches on the field. Since losing to India in the T20 World Cup final in June, Rob Walter’s men have won only 2 white ball matches (ODI and T20) in 8 outings. They got whitewashed by the West Indies in a 3-match T20 series in August, lost their first ever ODI series (2-1) against Afghanistan, and suffered their maiden T20 international loss against Ireland in a drawn two-match series in Abhu Dhabi. 

Speaking to the media ahead of the first ODI against the Irish, Bavuma has described the Springbok as the epitome of success and a team they can draw a lot of lessons from. 

“The Springboks are the epitome of success at the moment, not just in South Africa really but around the world from a sporting point of view. I think us like many other sporting teams will take a lot of lessons from them, whether from a coaching front, from a player front, there is a lot you can learn from that team. I think the biggest thing with them is that they always seem to find a way when things are not going their way and there is that belief that they will always win irrespective of what situation they find themselves in and I think if that’s anything that we could take as the Proteas team it would be that. There is a lot of learnings that you can take from that team,” Bavuma concluded.