I was racing my race and that worked in my favour.

Faf du Plessis has already succeeded in one of Test captaincies toughest tasks and led South Africa to a series win in Australia, but his proper job begins now. Confirmed as South Africas permanent Test captain ahead of a three-match home series against Sri Lanka, du Plessis spoke to the media at Newlands about the resources at his disposal for this assignment. The expectation is that this will be a much lower-profile series than Australia. How will you get the team up for their only home matches this summer? I prepare the team and myself in exactly the same way. There is no big series and no small series. People expect us to beat Sri Lanka, but thats not certain. They have played really good cricket over time. They have also lost some key players, which is something we will make sure we get into. But they are a quality cricket team, theyve got exceptional spin bowlers. Hopefully the ball wont turn too much.Theres a returning face in your pace pack - Wayne Parnell. What do you think he will add? Parnell deserves it. His last Test match was a good Test match and then he got injured. He has been plagued by injuries. Its good to see his hard work has paid off. He brings variety: left-arm seamer who can bowl quick. Its really important that he can bat as well. The more options that you have in a team when you have a longer batting line-up, the better. You saw in Australia now with someone like Keshav Maharaj, a spinner that can bat, how much of a difference it actually makes when your top order doesnt do their jobs on the day.Home fans are getting used to seeing a new-look pace attack. Last summer you were without Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. This time theres no Morne Morkel. Is there enough firepower on the field? We are lucky that there are guys who are waiting. Morne is a fantastic Test bowler, you dont have to say anything about him. With injury, it has been difficult for him to get back in. Kyle Abbott has done a fantastic job, but Morne is in the wings and gives us an option if we want to play four seamers. In Port Elizabeth, the wicket doesnt suit that, so we will maybe look at it towards the latter end of the series. But even after that, we need to make sure there are two or three guys who are ready.Youve also got a new top-order batsman in Theunis de Bruyn. What do you think he will gain from this series? Its sad on Rilee Rossouws behalf because he has been waiting for his turn for a while now and deserves a chance, but his foot has not completely healed yet. Theunis comes in as the next batter after Rilee and he has done really well for the South African A side. Hes got the X-factor, which is something that will fit in nicely. He is also young leader at the Knights, so to come into an environment where he can learn from great leaders means that even if he doesnt play a game, he will go back to the Knights a stronger leader.Since taking over as captain, youve dropped down to No.5. Is that where you are happy batting? I am happy wherever the coach puts me. I got a few chirps in Australia, saying I was hiding at No.5, but for me, its about getting the best out of JP Duminy. The way that JP is looking, he looks like the JP we know he can be. Ive got the captaincy so I dont need more extra responsibility but its nice for JP. He has that responsibility and he feels like he needs to go out there and score big hundreds for the team. At No.7, you bat with the tail and you tonk a few and you can get a good ball and thats why Quinton de Kock is perfect for that role. He takes the game away from the opposition. I like that extra responsibility on JP.Although you won the Australia series, only Quinton de Kock found real consistency among the batsmen. Is that a concern and what do you expect from the rest? My thing is to make sure the guy who are in form take full responsibility to score runs. Its going to happen that youre going to get out of form and you are going to get good balls, but guys who are batting well at any point in time have to make sure that they score the big runs for the team. If someone like Hashim Amla had a series where he didnt score the runs that he wanted to, for me is not as important as making sure Quinton who was in form cashed in. Temba Bavuma was also consistent. Through the series, we didnt possibly didnt score as many runs as we wanted to but every single Test there was a hundred and that wins you games of cricket. Michael Jordan Jersey Swingman . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The race was billed as the Bledisloe Cup of rowing, but in the end, the trans-Tasman showdown for gold between Australias Kim Brennan and New Zealands Emma Twigg never materialised.Brennan dominated from start to finish, painting Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in brilliant green and gold, while Twigg was left trailing in her wake.Brennan saved Australian rowing here in Rio. Australia used to be a superpower, but after an absence of golds at London 2012 and just two silvers here heading into Saturday, the panic button was being readied. But then came along Brennan who stormed home.Campaign Number One, an initiative to establish Australia as the worlds best, will be launched after the Rio Games, but Brennans triumph here will give them a secure platform from which to inspire the next generation.Brennan, who chairs the Australia Olympic Committees Athletes Commission, is a reluctant hero, but lived up to her tag of favourite heading into the race and embraced the pressure.One of the dangers of our sport is around the dangers of where youll be or where you wont be, Brennan said. This sport has always been about getting the most out of yourself and being calm under pressure.The most pressure comes from myself because I know how much Ive put into this over the years.I was away from my husband for three-and-a-half months, and its really quite a selfish thing to do, and the pressure was partly because I wanted to make it feel worthwhile.You can walk away incredibly happy if you know youve given the best show of yourself, and Im so chuffed to have a gold medal.After winning bronze and silver in 2012 she established dominance in the single sculls -- the last time she failed to win a race before she got to Rio was in 2014, with Twigg taking that one.But it wasnt straightforward from the start in Rio. She struggled in the first heat amid the windy conditions and choppy waters but found her stride in the semifinals where she facced Twigg.ddddddddddddIt was all geared up for a wonderful battle between the two in the final after Twigg challenged Brennan in the semis with a late sprint she hoped would give her Aussie rival and friend something to think about.But as Brennan looked up to Cristo Redentor and found a tranquility -- I just thought how bloody cool is this -- it was commanding from Brennan as she won by 1:38 ahead of USAs Genevra Stone with Twigg in fourth.I went into it with a technical focus, to sit up and keep the beat up a bit more, Brennan said. I was racing my race and that worked in my favour. When the crosswind kicked in, that makes it harder for people to sprint, so I just stayed calm in those closing stages.Competitiveness and sporting prowess is embedded in Brennans blood. Her father Max Crow played AFL for Essendon, St Kilda and Footscray, and she is married to Scott Brennan who, before today, won Australias last rowing gold in 2008.It was funny, she said. The song they played when I went to the podium was the song we played for our wedding dance, but it was just one of those moments where it just felt like it was meant to be.But I can stop feeling inadequate. My husband has a gold medal, so now were even.Its a bit ironic that sportspeople are held up as heroes. In reality were the lucky ones. Were living our dreams, so I want to be there for my family more and be a better support to the people around me.The bad news for Brennan is now she will have to find new things to visualise when she allows her mind to drift: the gold is proof that dreams do come true.Its one of those things where you do so much visualisation and you imagine that moment so many times, Brennan said. Just crossing the line I couldnt work out whether that was actually it or that was just my imagination again; I cant really believe it. ' ' '