Ken Borland

Following the euphoria of their innings win at Lord’s, the Proteas travelled to Manchester on Monday to prepare for the second Test, starting at Old Trafford on Thursday, and captain Dean Elgar says “We’ve enjoyed the celebrations but I’ll definitely not allow anyone to get into a comfort zone”.

“We’ll be leaving no stone unturned in our preparations,” Elgar said. “There is still room for improvement and my job is to still be looking for the negatives even when things are going well.

“We have a seriously good coaching staff who don’t get enough credit. I’m a massive fan of who Mark Boucher has added to the management and they do a lot of the behind-the-scenes homework.

“I’d be an idiot not to use that information. This is definitely not the Dean Elgar Show, there are a lot of great cricket brains in the backroom staff,” Elgar said.

Old Trafford has not treated South African cricket teams with much kindness over the years, with the tourists only managing to beat England once in nine Tests there, although they have won three of their five ODIs in the stadium next to the famous football ground.

The solitary Test win came in 1955 when South Africa won by three wickets, with Jackie McGlew, Johnny Waite and Paul Winslow all scoring first-innings centuries and fast bowler Peter Heine taking five second-innings wickets.

The Proteas’ most recent Test in Manchester ended in a 177-run defeat in 2017 as Moeen Ali dominated the second innings with bat and ball and Jimmy Anderson took seven wickets in the match.

But Elgar and his team are used to shrugging off difficulties. They were besieged by the English media about ‘Bazball’, and Elgar’s comment that “We are firmly committed to playing our own game. What England have been doing this summer does not influence my thoughts,” will hopefully be the end of that, especially given how dominant the Proteas were at Lord’s.

Even the administrators seemingly pulling the plug on the tremendous growth of this Test side by limiting their opportunities to play the longest format over the next five years could not tempt Elgar into any sort of rash response.

“I just know that we have 28 Tests in five years. It’s a sad thing, we could be playing more, but I don’t want to say more because it will get me into trouble,” Elgar said.

Re: The matter between Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and all the former national team coaches and players who have come out to criticise his selection for the second Test against Wales in Bloemfontein, which led to an historic first loss to the men from Cymru on home turf.

The defeat, following a fortuitous last-minute win in the first Test against a team that had been reduced to 12 men for some of the last 10 minutes, has put Nienaber and the Springboks in a concerning position – another loss in Cape Town on Saturday would give Wales the series and would be the first time South Africa have lost the majority of their mid-winter Tests at home since losing to the British and Irish Lions in 1997.

Losing the series to Wales would also put Nienaber under pressure to start anew, but then we have seen the next tier of players is not yet ready to take over judging by the way they let the Test in Bloemfontein slip. So in many ways, Nienaber really is between a rock and a hard place, with only a good victory in Cape Town on Saturday allowing him to wriggle into some breathing space.

The problem with being world champions is not only that you are the team with the biggest target on your backs, but that four years can be a long time in rugby and a side that won the previous World Cup might be just that little bit over the hill at the next showpiece tournament. It is the major reason why the defending champions have only retained their title once – the All Blacks going back-to-back in 2011 and 2015.

Coaches will naturally want to stick with the players they trust, the ones who won them the greatest prize in the sport. But they will also recognise the need to rejuvenate, to refresh their squad with new blood where necessary.

Thanks partly to the weakness of the rand and the number of foreign clubs eager to embrace South African talent, there is no doubt a fresh generation of exciting talent is starting to emerge at home, helped by the move into European competition.

Nienaber does need to look at them in the pressure of international rugby because some of them could well be key to defending the World Cup crown next year. But it is a balancing act and ideally you would want to introduce three or four players at a time with plenty of experienced, first-choice campaigners around them.

Perhaps Jake White is right and the fact that Nienaber has limited experience of being the head coach of a team led to him naively thinking that a squad with 19 changes to the 23 would be able to beat Wales.

I’m sure the number crunchers in the Randburg TV studios will know the answer, but I do wonder whether more people will watch the Springboks this weekend because the Test is a series decider or whether they prefer to watch a South African team sweeping all before them?

One thing is certain and White also made this point. The Springboks cannot rely on what won them the World Cup in 2019 working again next year. As we have seen with Wales, the opposition is getting better and better at countering the Erasmus/Nienaber game plan.

The Springboks need to grow, they need to change and evolve. I am sure Nienaber had this in mind with his selection for last weekend. It was a gamble that did not come off, much like playing the undercooked Elton Jantjies at flyhalf in the first Test. Sometimes the Springboks brains trust just try to be a little bit too clever.

Providing the first-choice players do the business on Saturday, it may just turn out to be a small step backwards, a valuable lesson, on the path to the 2023 World Cup.

The Welsh may not have felt the Springboks’ selection for the second Test in Bloemfontein was prim and proper for the occasion, but in the end they needed a 78^th-minute try and a brilliant touchline conversion by Gareth Anscombe to win 13-12 and celebrate their first victory in South Africa.

Here are four Talking Points from the game:

Did Jacques Nienaber’s selection gamble pay off?

No. And it’s not as if several players took the chance to make a big statement either. Of the 19 new players chosen, eighthman Evan Roos was probably the standout with a busy first half featuring several strong carries, while wing Kurt-Lee Arendse looked threatening on attack.

Nienaber will at least have more clarity in terms of selection now, and will know that the vast majority of the team that played in the first Test in Pretoria will be his first-choice players going forward.

The decider in Cape Town next weekend will surely see the Springboks field their proper team.

Many a slip between the cup and the lip

There were periods when the Springboks cooked up all the ingredients to turn their territorial dominance into points, but several times it was like the fork nearing the mouth but the food falling off.

South Africa just could not convert some bright attacking moments into a single try, all 12 of their points coming from four Handre Pollard penalties, but the captain also missed two penalties which proved crucial in the long run.

Credit must be given to the steely Welsh defence, but the Springboks need to polish up those finishing touches.

Mixed fortunes for new caps

While starting debutants Roos and Arendse did well, the four new caps coming off the bench did not have much impact. Loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu earned a penalty from his first scrum with a mighty shove, but then conceded a penalty for scrumming in that gave Wales the territory to launch their matchwinning try.

Ruan Nortje and Deon Fourie could not turn the shifting momentum in the final quarter and reserve scrumhalf Grant Williams came on when Pollard left the field with a leg injury. The Springboks will be hoping it was just cramp, otherwise there will be fresh problems at flyhalf after Elton Jantjies’ off-colour display in the first Test.

Credit to Wales

The tourists defended with tremendous zeal and dominated the aerial battle, which was enough for them to win a tightly-contested battle. Initially it seemed like Wales were going to struggle in the scrums and lineouts, but Wayne Pivac’s side fought back to level the playing field in those crucial set-pieces. They were also tenacious at the breakdown and flank Tommy Reffell was named man of the match in his second Test.

South Africa’s men’s cricket team have again made short work of Bangladesh, winning the second Test in Gqeberha by a massive 332 runs, and once again it was spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer who led the way for the Proteas by bowling their opposition out for just 80 in their second innings on Monday.

Maharaj took 7/40, becoming the first bowler in Test history to take seven wickets in the fourth innings of consecutive matches, while Harmer claimed 3/34. In the two Tests combined, Maharaj took 16 wickets and Harmer 13.

For South African fans weaned on a diet of tall fast bowlers dominating the opposition with pace and bounce, it has been a refreshing change.

You have to give the selectors, coaching staff and players great credit for the adaptability they have shown in another testing summer. Powerhouses India were beaten on pitches which were a daunting trial for batsmen, the Proteas then drew a series in New Zealand against the reigning World Test champions, and Bangladesh, who some considered favourites following their win in the ODI series, were dispatched 2-0.

Maharaj and Harmer have developed into a potent spin-bowling combination, one that adds another valuable element to the South African attack. One hopes they can continue playing together whenever conditions are suitable.