Ken Borland

The Springboks showed that a week is a long time in rugby as they lacked the sharpness and nous of the previous weekend and were well-beaten 35-23 by the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Here are four key talking points.

Keeping their wits about them in the first half

As one wag pointed out, on a wild night at Ellis Park, there had already been one fight in the main grandstand before any points were scored. But plenty happened in the opening 20 minutes. The Springboks had to weather an early storm with 14 men as Damian Willemse was yellow-carded after eighthman Ardie Savea broke into the 22 after a clever crosskick by Richie Mounga.

Jesse Kriel, who always has to fight so hard for a starting berth these days, lasted just 10 minutes before knocking himself senseless trying to tackle Caleb Clarke, stumbling around like a new-born antelope before quickly being taken off the field. Pieter-Steph du Toit broke clear but was stopped just short and Lukhanyo Am was held up over the line by tremendous All Blacks defence.

The Springboks kicked a penalty to set up a lineout deep inside the New Zealand 22, but Joseph Dweba’s throw was skew.

By the 33^rd minute, though, the All Blacks were 15-0 up and South Africa showed great composure to go into halftime only 10-15 behind thanks to Lukhanyo Am’s brilliant try and a 54m penalty by Handre Pollard.

Scrums and lineouts shaky and kicking game absent

The things that worked so well for the Springboks in Nelspruit last weekend, did not feature strongly in their game at Ellis Park, which is mostly why they lost.

It started with shaky set-piece execution, with New Zealand awarded a couple of free kicks at scrums and the Springbok lineout losing a couple of balls.

The kicking game which had put the All Blacks under so much pressure at Mbombela was strangely not utilised as much or as effectively on Saturday. It allowed the All Blacks to settle into a much better rhythm and for long periods they imposed their expansive game-plan on the Springboks.

It was little surprise when Malcolm Marx replaced Joseph Dweba at hooker on the half-hour and Steven Kitshoff came on for Ox Nche five minutes later.

The wisdom and wonder of Lukhanyo Am

South Africa’s outside centre was magnificent. He crossed the tryline three times himself, only one of his scores being allowed, and his break to put Makazole Mapimpi away in the second half was majestic. The try was controversially disallowed due to obstruction around the halfway line by Marx, but he seemed to be far away from where Am actually cut the line. It would have allowed the Springboks to level the scores at 18-18 on the hour mark, but instead New Zealand pulled 21-13 ahead.

Am, the defensive organiser of the backline, consistently made great decisions with ball-in-hand and his stepping, vision and acceleration were superb to behold.

Rieko Ioane shows he is class too

Ironically, given how well Am played, it was his opposite number Rieko Ioane who took the man of the match honours.

He was outstanding too, being the main cog in the All Blacks’ attacking efforts that saw them get the ball wide to great effect. They found plenty of space and reward out there, and Ioane sparked an excellent backline effort with his incisive running, especially from deep, and great hands.

He made Ian Foster’s team look like the All Blacks of old at times.

South Africa’s stunning 3-0 whitewash of India has answered many questions surrounding the ODI squad as the heavily-favoured tourists lacked the composure or the skills under pressure to register a single victory over the Proteas, even in conditions that suited them.

Five batting places are secure with Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan entrenched as the opening pair, Temba Bavuma averaging 51 in the No.3 position, Rassie van der Dussen being the master of the middle-order and David Miller showing the value of his finishing experience in the nailbiting final ODI.

In terms of the bowling, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi remain crucial in the middle-overs and seamers Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo both had fine series with the ball, keeping the batsmen guessing with their range of skills.

Bavuma has also unequivocally shown he is the right man to lead the team.

So what questions remain for the Proteas ODI side?

• Has Aiden Markram done enough to stay in the starting XI or do South Africa sacrifice the sixth bowler for another batsman?

There is no other obvious candidate for the ‘JP Duminy role’ of batting in the top six and being able to bowl a few tidy overs of spin, so it’s a straight choice – keep Markram and have that sixth bowler, or drop him and have just five bowlers and possibly a more consistent batsman.

But Markram did a fine job with the ball, conceding just 5.00 runs per over in 17 overs and taking a couple of wickets. There were also encouraging signs with the bat in the way he stayed with Van der Dussen to help steer the Proteas to victory in the second ODI with a confident 37 not out. He was batting with good positive intent in the last game as well, before being caught on the boundary.

• Should Marco Jansen be a regular part of the starting XI?

The left-arm quick enjoyed a brilliant maiden Test series and was immediately thrown into the first ODI, where he bowled nine wicketless overs for 49 runs, lacking the consistency he had shown with the red ball. The 21-year-old is clearly an outstanding talent, but maybe we should all take a breath and not burden him with a big workload right now in white-ball cricket as well. While he brings useful variety to the seam attack, the Proteas still have Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Ngidi in that department.

• What is Sisanda Magala’s future?

Captain Bavuma made a plea after the series that Magala does not receive half-hearted backing but that the selectors “suck everything they can out of what he offers”. A perennial poor starter – those nerves need to be managed somehow – Magala however showed promise when he bowled in the middle overs and at the death. He fairly thuds the ball into the pitch, hitting the bat hard with steep bounce, and he can also go full blockhole when required. The Proteas may have found the sort of skilful old-ball bowler they have been looking for.

• Will the CSA board listen to the players or decide to derail the team despite their progress and success versus India?

South Africa’s next ODI engagement is in March when they host Bangladesh. By then the fate of coach Mark Boucher should be known. As much as they are able to as contracted employees, the players have made clear how happy they are with their current management, and the results show that.  But will the CSA board ignore the clear growth and improvement in the team and instead only have ears for the tom-toms beating and the cries for one particular head to roll for things that happened twenty years ago?