The excitement around the Springboks and the Rugby Cup has to some to extent helped the Proteas’ five successive defeats against Australia skate under the radar
While the Springboks have hit their straps with a good build-up – they managed record wins against Wales and the All Blacks – and made a winning start to the competition by downing Scotland, the Proteas have looked really undercooked with less than a month to go to the One-Day International showpiece in India.
Coach Rob Walter’s Proteas have five matches remaining before the start of the Cup, including the remaining three in the current series against Australia. So far it’s been one-way traffic, as Australia has shown up the Proteas in both ODIs in Bloemfontein, with Tuesday’s third match now a must-win encounter as far as the series is concerned.
The Proteas just haven’t been able to stitch a complete performance together with bat and ball, and even in the field.
The Proteas’ poor performances in the first five home games of the summer – SA lost the three-match T20 series 3-0 – has been attributed to rustiness, despite many of the sides biggest guns having game in various T20 Leagues around the world over the last few months.
But it just looks like the Proteas are behind on their form timeline in regards to the Cup.
The Springboks’ preparation is probably not the greatest example to compare readiness for a Cup, or building up to one. They have been together for months, playing together and getting with each passing week.
But at the moment the Proteas look like their preparation is way behind schedule, seemingly more disjointed than rusty. They have been hammered by an Australian line-up who aren’t even at full strength.
But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, as this team barely qualified for the Cup in the first place. They escaped playing in the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe by the skin of their teeth.
With five matches to go before the start of the Cricket Cup, the Proteas need to catch fire to be ‘well-done’ for the tournament. At the moment they are more ‘bleh’ than ‘bleu’ …
@JohnGoliath82
