Temba Bavuma expects South Africa to put the "trauma" of a hammering in Australia behind them when they start a new Test era against West Indies on Tuesday.
Bavuma has replaced Dean Elgar as captain in the longest format after the Proteas were emphatically beaten 2-0 in Australia, where they probably would have been whitewashed but for the weather in Sydney.
The opening Test against the Windies at Supersport Park will also be Shukri Conrad's first as head coach, with Malibongwe Maketa having taken over on a temporary basis following Mark Boucher's departure.
Bavuma says it is time to heal the wounds from a chastening tour of Australia.
The skipper said: "No one died. We went to Australia and got a good beating. With that there were lessons that guys took individually from it. It was quite hard to have a team de-brief on it because the management who were there, some of those guys are not here now.
"From a personal point of view, I went back and looked at areas I could work on.
"Here within the Test team, guys would've dealt with the challenges that they faced. I also think that guys need to be kind to themselves and understand that Australia is another tough place to tour. That's why people respect Australia for the country that they are.
"Another thing is not to hold on for too long to the trauma or that baggage. At some point you have to move on from it and I trust that the guys have done that."
Tony de Zorzi could make his debut and Aiden Markram has been recalled, while fellow batters Keegan Petersen and Ryan Rickelton have recovered from injuries and Neil McKenzie has been appointed as a batting consultant.
Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne and Lungi Ngidi were overlooked, but Elgar will hope to thrive at the top of the order without the captaincy.
Batter Alick Athanaze and seamer Akeem Jordan will be hoping to make their debuts for the Windies, who arrived in South Africa with three series wins from four after a 1-0 success in Zimbabwe.
Windies overdue a win over Proteas
You have to go back to December 2007 for the first time the Windies beat South Africa in a Test, with the Proteas winning eight and drawing two of the 10 since then.
Only against Bangladesh (14) do the Proteas have a longer active unbeaten streak in the format.
South Africa have won each of their eight multi-game bilateral Test series against West Indies.
Chanderpaul must build on impressive start
Tagenarine Chanderpaul has looked very much at home in the Test arena since making his Windies debut last year.
The left-hander scored a magnificent unbeaten 207 in the first Test against Zimbabwe this month and averages 69.66 from his seven innings.
West Indies will need Chanderpaul to stand up when they attempt to improve a poor record against South Africa.