Good starts for Bafana and Boks
The past week was a good one for two of our national teams. It began with the rugby side, the Springboks, overwhelming France 37-14 at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria.
That was quite a great start to the season for Allister Coetzee who, at this stage last year, had to contend with howls of doubt as he began his Bok coaching regime.
We hope he and his team carry on the momentum this weekend in Durban, where the Boks face the selfsame France.
Over in Uyo, Nigeria, Bafana Bafana returned an infamous, historic result by beating the Super Eagles 2-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
It was a great way for Stuart Baxter to start his second stint as national coach, although the celebrations were cut short this week following Tuesday's 1-2 defeat to Zambia in a friendly.
But it was not all bloom for our national teams, as the Proteas, once again, bombed out at the first hurdle of an international tournament. Our cricketers were bamboozled by India at the ICC Champions Trophy, succumbing meekly in a must-win situation. It was painful to watch, as they committed schoolboy errors which included comical run-outs to fail to reach the semifinal stage.
Such failure should immediately call for stern action to ensure it's not repeated. Alas, a few days later, Cricket SA authorities had not announced if they would review the performance of the team, with some fans calling for the removal of AB de Villiers as captain given his latest failure to sparkle at an international event.
But instead, CSA rewarded him with the captaincy, in the absence of regular skipper Faf du Plessis due to the birth of his first child, of the T20 side which will face England later this month.
This doesn't inspire confidence. It seems CSA are comfortable with another failure at a major event. CSA should at least have signalled their intention to hold De Villiers accountable by handing over the captaincy to someone else, with an eye on the future.
Rewarding a man who so underperformed – scoring a paltry 20 runs in three matches at the Champions Trophy – with captaincy when other countries could well have stripped him of one is self-defeating. No wonder out of all our national teams, the Proteas can continue to perform below par with little consequences.