We ticked the boxes we had wanted, blooded some new talent and added some innovation on attack and defence. I’d say that from the Rugby Championship next year we will be in a position to settle on a squad to take us to the 2027 World Cup.
That was coach Rassie Erasmus’ summation of a near-perfect year for the Boks in which they won 11 of their 13 games and twice lost by just one point.
How they overpowered the All Blacks and the Wallabies (both twice) sent out a warning to the rugby world that the world champions are continuing on an upward trajectory. They then finished the year with emphatic defeats of Scotland, England and Wales.
While Erasmus continues to back the men who won him two World Cups, he has sifted in impressive new talent. Cameron Hanekom finished the year with some stunning displays while earlier in the season Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezula was revealed as a potential future Dan Carter.
It was a season where Aphelele Fassi finally realised his potential while there were debuts for Jordan Hendrikse, Edwill van der Merwe, Morne van den Berg, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, and a strong comeback by Wilco Louw.
Sharks loosehead Ox Nche was a revelation and it was a surprise when he did not join Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and Pieter-Steph du Toit in the World Rugby Player of the year nominations. All three of those senior Boks would have been a deserved winner but fair play to Du Toit, a model of consistency and excellence all year, for adding to his 2019 award.
Kolbe finished the year in the form of his life and it is doubtful there is a better finisher in the game.
As Erasmus says, the Boks have put much in place as they build to Australia in 2027. Attack coach Tony Brown has added a new dimension to the backline and brought out the best in the sensational midfield pairing of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.
Another player to make a major mark was the blindingly quick Grant Williams and he may have overtaken his Sharks teammate Jaden Hendrikse in the scrumhalf pecking order.
Irishman Jerry Flannery has freshened up the Boks’ defensive approach, and at this point, the Springbok game plan has no conceivable weakness beyond the odd creaking lineout.
Springboks season rating: A+
Players to watch in the future: Cameron Hanekom, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezula. Grant Williams.
Singing the national anthem with thousands supporting us in the stands and in front of their televisions, we knew we had to seize the chance in Cape Town because it only comes once a year.
With that motivation from head coach Philip Snyman and the urge to break a drought of missing out on the title for nine long years, the Springbok Sevens claimed their first Cape Town SVNS gold medal since 2015.
It capped off a tumultuous year for the Blitzboks who at the start of the year looked like a real contender on the Sevens circuit, only to lose their way in the rest of the season with below-par performances.
After not qualifying automatically for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the South Africans had to walk the gravel road to the global showpiece by contending in the repechage tournament to claim the last spot.
But, the path to the repêchage was bestowed with thorns and their season was derailed by under-performances in several of the World Series competitions. It also saw the removal of head coach Sandile Ngcobo with his replacement, former captain Snyman, taking the team to repêchage and the Olympic Games in an interim head coach role.
Things started coming together at the final qualifying hurdle in Monaco where they cruised through the tournament, beating Great Britain to claim the final spot for Paris 2024.
Their Olympic campaign also had some hiccups with not many people giving them any chance to win anything ahead of it. They also lost their first two pool matches against Ireland and New Zealand, and an early exit from the Games was staring them in the face. But they had other plans and showed the skills they possessed.
The Blitzboks, playing as Team South Africa, fought back on the second day to remove the All Blacks Sevens in the quarter-final, before eventually falling to hosts France in the semis. They beat Australia in a third-place thriller to claim a second bronze after the one won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
For veteran Rosko Specman it was the second bronze medal after winning it in Brazil and the perfect way to end his career with the Blitzboks. Several other players made a name for themselves including rookies Tristan Leyds and Quewin Nortje, while captain Selvyn Davids led the team with distinction in a tough season.
Blitzboks season rating: B
Players to watch in the future: Quewin Nortje, Tristan Leyds, Donavan Don and Zander Reinders.
We are still a work in progress, but it's clear that something special is building within the Springbok Women ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
While Swys de Bruin, the high-performance coach of the Bok Women did not know what to expect in the setup when he joined earlier this year, the experienced mentor was very surprised with how quickly the side took to his ways of coaching.
They had another year of exciting rugby Tests as the team builds towards the 2025 Rugby World Cup set to take place in England in August and September.
Looking at the group they've been drawn into, playing Brazil, Italy, and France there is a realistic chance that the side under the mentorship of De Bruin, Bafana Nhleko, Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September can push for a first-ever play-off berth in the history of the tournament.
They've undergone a tremendous transformation this year, pushing Australia to the brink when they faced them in the Women's XV tournament earlier. They took Italy to a last-minute duel too where one pass went awry that stopped a promising move for the South Africans to clinch the game. And they've beaten Japan clinically in the World Rugby tournament.
Before that, wins over Spain and the Barbarians mid-year laid a very good platform from which the side continued to build. And for a third year in a row, they were crowned Africa's best rugby team, winning the Rugby Africa Women's title.
So, it's been a rewarding journey for the Springbok side and they are building towards something special next year. A couple of Tests must still be finalised for 2025, but after the success they've had this year, more is expected from them.
That is what De Bruin and his coaches are working towards.
"I learned quickly that they are very coachable. They adapt to positions that you put them in and they don't push back like the men when you change. They are like sponges and just want to take information in," De Bruin added about the squad.
They can look back on a satisfying season where they've established themselves as Africa's best, while really announcing themselves on the world stages with some tight contests against top rugby countries.
They find themselves currently outside of the top 10 ranked nations in the world and the aim in 2025 is to push into the top 10 and make it to the top eight during the World Cup.
Season rating: B
Players to watch in the future: Nadine Roos, Vainah Ubisi, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Chumisa Qawe