The Proteas want to take a leaf out of the Springboks book when they face Ireland tomorrow in a three-match One-Day International series in Abu Dhabi. 

On Sunday the Proteas suffered a shock 10-run defeat against Ireland in the T20 International. Before that, the Proteas were beaten 2-1 in the ODI series against Afghanistan in Sharjah.

Before the most recent tour to the United Arab Emirates, the Proteas also lost back-to-back series against the West Indies in the Caribbean, before and after the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

While the Proteas are without key players such as Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, David Miller, and Heinrich Klaasen, the recent results haven’t gone down well. This is however a necessary process as some players are reaching the backend of their international careers and depth needs to be built.

The Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, told OFM Sport that can learn a lot from the Springboks.

“The Springboks are the epitome of success at the moment, not just in South Africa really, across the world from a sporting point of view,” said Bavuma.

“So, I think us, like many other sporting teams, will take a lot of lessons from them, whether from a coaching front or a player front.

Marco Jansen. Photo: Morgan Piek

“There’s a lot that 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. I mean, there is that belief that they will always win, irrespective of what situation they find themselves in.

“I think if that is anything that we could take as a Proteas team, it would be that. But yeah, there are a lot of learnings that you can take from that team.”

The 1st ODI in Abu Dhabi gets underway at 13:30 on Wednesday.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh