We need to be realistic about our sporting teams’ achievements

On Saturday, Bafana Bafana got the party started with a clinical 3-1 victory over Burkina Faso in their 2018 World Cup qualifier at FNB Stadium before the Springboks came within a whisker of completing one of their greatest comebacks only to lose 25-24 to the All Blacks in their final Rugby Championship Test of the year in Cape Town.

And then the South African cricket team capped off a solid weekend for the country by thumping Bangladesh by an innings and 254 runs on the third day of the second Test in Bloemfontein for a 2-0 series triumph.

Despite the rugby blemish in Cape Town, not bad for a weekend’s work? But we also need to be realistic about our sporting teams’ achievements.

Stuart Baxter’s Bafana Bafana may have grabbed three points in their bid to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia, but they still have a mountain to climb.

They have to beat Senegal home and away next month if they are to qualify for their first World Cup since 2002.

Although they did play at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa they automatically qualified as host nation.

Baxter’s men are still lying in bottom spot in Group D with four points after back-to-back losses to Cape Verde all but ended their qualifying campaign.

The cricketers have reason to smile after recording their biggest win in their history, after Kagiso Rabada completed his third 10-wicket haul in Tests and became the third fastest South African to take 100 Test wickets.

However, as emphatic as the Proteas win was, we must remember Bangladesh are ranked ninth in the world – seven places below Faf du Plessis’s men.

Lastly, as much as the Springboks delivered an improved performance against the world champions, the All Blacks, we did lose the Test and ultimately finished third on the Rugby Championship standings behind New Zealand and Australia.

The reality check is a hard pill to swallow but it does give us hope going forward.