South Africa's new hockey captain, Bruce Jacobs, believes that good things come in threes. Now he's looking forward to his third bit of good fortune.
First Jacobs led Western Province to their first inter-provincial title (IPT) in almost 20 years.
Then, two days later, he was appointed national team captain.
He says he now awaits the third stroke of luck.
WP last won the IPT in 1986 when it was played in Cape Town and were captained by Cari Rose-Innes, father of WP and South Africa player Eric.
Jacobs says the past few days have been "rewarding".
"I'm still floating, waiting for things to settle down," said Jacobs.
WP survived a nail-biting final against Southern Gauteng in the inter-provincial. At one stage they led 4-0 but were given a scare when the opposition hit back to lose only 4-3.
"After the game we didn't realise what the victory meant. It's only now that it is beginning to make sense," said Jacobs.
Jacobs, 30, an Athens Olympian and one of the most experienced players in the SA team, has been part of the national team for the past five years. "I've been around for quite some time and I understand most of the players. It's a nicely balanced team with experienced guys and exciting young players.
"The four players - EP's Chris Hibbert and Clyde Abrahams and KZN's Ken Forbes and Justin King, who took semi-retirement from international hockey after the Olympic Games - have more than 100 caps between them and I'm looking forward to working with them," Jacobs said.
Jacobs, who was born in Wetton, replaced Southern Gauteng's Ryan Ravenscroft as national captain.
He started playing hockey at seven for the Blackburn club in Athlone. Blackburn and a few clubs from the former WP Hockey Union amalgamated in the early-1990s to form Central; he has been playing for them ever since.
During the South African off-season, Jacobs plays in England for Southgate Hockey Club, a north London side. He returned to the country three weeks ago to prepare for the inter-provincial tournament.
He will meet the team coach Paul Revington this weekend to discuss his new role and commitments with the overseas club.
"I don't think the national job will be that different from captaining WP though. I'll take it as a challenge and hope for the best," he said.
The South African team meets for a training camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Friday before leaving for the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia next week.
South Africa play Australia, Pakistan, India, Korea, New Zealand and the hosts from May 26 to June 5.
And the best thing for the skipper would be if he led his team to victory in Kuala Lumpur.
May 26 vs India
May 27 vs Malaysia
May 29 vs Pakistan
May 30 vs New Zealand
June 1 vs Australia
June 3 vs Korea
June 5 play-offs