OPINION: The Boks have set the standard and the Proteas must rise to it

South African sports fans want nothing but the best. As a nation, our standards are very high.

And while this has always been the case, it is now even more so following the tremendous success of the Springbok rugby team in recent years, as well as the likes of MMA fighter Dricus du Plessis and swimmer Tatjana Smith.

The Bok setup in particular has become a blueprint for the rest of SA’s elite teams, with the national squad having raised the bar as high as it can be lifted.

And the more the Boks achieve, the more there is in terms of expectation for the rest of the country’s national teams, particularly in cricket which has traditionally been our next best team sport.

In their defence, both the SA men’s and women’s cricket sides have come to the party over the last couple of seasons, with the Proteas women reaching the T20 World Cup final and the Proteas men progressing to the final of the 50-over World Cup last year.

Now that they have proved they can give themselves a real shot at lifting trophies, however, and with the Boks winning every major tournament they enter, the cricket sides need to go a step further.

No room for excuses

The pressure is on for the Proteas women to not only reach the final again at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, but to secure South Africa’s first ever global cricket title.

As captain Laura Wolvaardt said this week, T20 cricket is a fickle format in which anything can happen, but for SA fans there will be no room for excuses.

If they can reach the final again, the Proteas women will receive widespread support, but the real celebrations will happen only if they win.

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Should they lift the trophy, they will be praised from a dizzy height and they’ll be welcomed home by throngs of supporters before travelling the country on a nationwide parade.

But if they take the runner-up spot, they won’t get any of that. All they’ll receive is a pat on the back and a tip of the hat.

If teams want a share in the shower of praise offered to the Springboks, they have to lift trophies.

At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters. For South African fans, winning is everything, and second place will not be good enough.