There were several tired-looking Springbok players milling about their plush London hotel yesterday morning having deservedly enjoyed a good night out after a gritty one-point win over England on Saturday, which underlined their progress in 2012.
These Boks, if nothing else, have become like a family. It's evident in the way they played and especially the way they defended, making 150 tackles against England and conceding only one try on tour. On the back of that foundation, they have momentum going into next year.
"That kind of commitment and attitude in defence can't be coached," said captain Jean de Villiers as coach Heyneke Meyer shot him a look of mock anger.
"Of course, we get wonderful coaching as well," De Villiers dead-panned.
The light-hearted nature of the exchange spoke volumes about the relationship between the players and the coach and the spirit of the camp.
Romantics will argue that the Boks are difficult to watch because they grind rather than tear opponents apart, and there is some truth to the observation. But there is something compelling about their brutality. They're like a bulldog puppy - ugly, beautiful, robust and lovable at the same time.
Meyer's men are a work in progress and it's early in their development after a difficult year in which injuries and a tough fixture list made it even harder on them. So wins over Ireland, Scotland and England cannot be dismissed lightly. At this stage victories are far more important than style.
"It's been a great effort all tour from the guys but when we had to dig deep we did because we made a commitment to each other not to let England score a try," No8 Duane Vermeulen said.
"It was always a massive clash of forwards in all the matches on tour, but we played for one another throughout the tour. The message has been to enjoy each other's company and to keep striving for improvement. I think we made progress on this tour."
The Bok lineout was superb in all the matches. It was their main attacking weapon, leading to two out of their four tries on tour from rolling mauls and they lost only one ball on their throw in three Tests.
Lock Juandre Kruger was the brain behind the lineout dominance and he was deeply satisfied after the win.
"That was what you call 'real' Test rugby," Kruger said.
"I was happy with the lineouts, although losing one against England was disappointing because we wanted to finish the tour with a 100% success rate on our own ball."
That commitment to excellence is the hallmark of the team. They are some way off being the finished product, but the culture of working hard and striving to be better is firmly established.
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