Thursday, the last quiet day before a very loud weekend. Hollywoodbets Kingsmead hosts a Test from tomorrow, Cape Town has a derby on Saturday afternoon and Durban a cup final that night. First, though, the Proteas team for first Test duty against Australia is still unsettled, with two spinners and one hamstring at the heart of it.
1. The Big One: picking the Proteas team for first Test day
Spin, and lots of it. The Proteas are giving serious thought to playing Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer together, on a Kingsmead pitch that is expected to turn. Australian Associated Press says both are now expected to play, with Aiden Markram’s part-time spin as a third option.
Then there is Kagiso Rabada. Ashwell Prince, of the Proteas coaching staff, says the call on him will be made as late as possible. Rabada came through the intra-squad game, and The Citizen still has him in with a shout. Australian Associated Press, though, says he bowled only off a shortened run on Wednesday as his hamstring heals, and reckons a Durban comeback looks unlikely. If he misses out, a second spinner stops being a luxury and starts looking like the plan. What Rabada’s record against Australia doesn’t tell you.
2. The Matchday Move: eleven Springboks and a black jersey in Cape Town
Director of rugby John Dobson has gone big for Saturday’s derby against the Sharks. The Stormers’ 23 carries 11 Springboks, and seven of them will be playing their first Stormers match of the season. Paul de Villiers returns at openside, which moves Siya Kolisi to blindside flank in the seven jersey, while Ruhan Nel captains from outside centre. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu runs things at flyhalf, with Cobus Reinach inside him and Damian Willemse at the back.
And they do it in black: a new kit that harks back to the 1999 Men in Black, worn for the first time. Kick-off at DHL Stadium is 16:00 SAST. The Stormers, the team.
3. The Talking Point: Sundowns’ three doubts, and what a final is worth
Teboho Mokoena, Bathusi Aubaas and Aubrey Modiba all came back from Bafana Bafana’s AFCON 2027 qualifying window carrying injuries, and all three are in doubt for Saturday’s MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium (18:00 SAST). Miguel Cardoso has given no verdict yet. The club’s doctors only saw the players on Tuesday, and the coach has made it clear Sundowns will not gamble on anyone, with Champions League and league matches queuing up behind the final.
Our view: he is right, even in a final. Losing a key man for a run of matches to win one night is a poor trade for a club with bigger prizes in sight. Would you risk Mokoena? How the MTN8 works.
4. The Stat That Matters: 53 all out
Fifty-three. That is what Bangladesh were bowled out for at Kingsmead in April 2022, when Maharaj and Harmer bowled unchanged through the second innings and took every wicket between them. Maharaj finished with seven for 32, Harmer with three for 21, and South Africa won by 220 runs. Across that Test the pair took 14 wickets.
Australia are not Bangladesh, and an October pitch is not an April one. But when the Proteas trusted both spinners on this ground in 2022, the ball did the talking. That is the whole case for picking two tomorrow. Keshav Maharaj, the player.
5. The One to Watch: the half-hour after the final whistle
Flying under the radar: the best part of Saturday at DHL Stadium might come once the rugby is done. The Stormers say their squad will stay on the pitch for 30 minutes after the final whistle to meet supporters, part of a derby-day programme built around going beyond the 80 minutes. Gates open at 13:00, players sign autographs outside the club shop from 14:15 to 15:00, and there is marimba, choir and Cape Minstrel music before kick-off, with the Bulls and the Lions on the big screens. A small thing, maybe. Not if you have been waiting for a word with Kolisi. The Stormers’ derby-day plans.
So, the braai question for tonight: two spinners at Kingsmead tomorrow, or one spinner and a gamble on pace? Pick your XI, defend it to the neighbours, and let’s see who was right by the end of day one.