Reasons to believe in Boks

Thanks in no small part to how far ahead of the rest of the free world the All Blacks are, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer's first Four Nations tournament wasn't the all-conquering affair many thought it would be when he took over from Peter de Villiers in January.

Instead, it was a steep learning curve, in which many mistakes were made.

We've all harped on about the stuff-ups, but said little about the good things to emerge from the campaign. Here they are:

There's coaching, and then there's coaching

After rigidly seeking to control even the uncontrollables at the start, this is a lesson Meyer has learned the hard way. Having not coached a rugby team on a day-to-day basis in almost four years, Meyer thought not only would the same principles suffice, they would also apply at international level. But there's a massive difference between coaching a provincial side and an international team, let alone the Bulls and the Boks. The paucity of time spent with one's players forces a coach to be flexible, something Meyer has started to show in his playing approach and allowing himself to trust people from outside the Loftus Versfeld kraal.

The sometimes forced exposure of the incredible young talent in South Africa

Coenie Oosthuizen, Eben Etzebeth, Marcell Coetzee, Siya Kolisi, Johan Goosen, Elton Jantjies, Pat Lambie and Jaco Taute, who are all 22 and under, have the potential to be future greats if managed properly. The circumstances of how they got to spend time with the Boks differ. Some benefited from the likes of Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez not coming back from retirement, others filled in the gaps after the lure of big money took senior Boks away, and injury did its dastardly work for the rest. All that matters is that they and their prodigious gifts are now in the national consciousness.

Jean de Villiers's captaincy

He's no John Smit - nobody is - but there's a "bloke next door" aspect to the relaxed, humble, honest and humorous manner in which he goes about leading the most complex team in world rugby besides the moody French.

De Villiers comes across as the kind of captain with whom Bok fans would like to have a dop. The relationship between him and Meyer does not appear to be a natural fit, but De Villiers has been loyal to his coach and his methods in all his utterances.

And when he's been asked to go to outside centre to tackle and clean like all self-respecting Bulls centres do, he has bitten his lip and done a manful job.

Bryan Habana's resurgence

I once got embroiled in a heated debate with patrons at a bar for daring to call Habana a Springbok great. Thankfully, there are now 46 reasons (tries) to put that debate to bed. Given his class, Habana's comeback to try-scoring form should have been inevitable, but it took a two-year scenic route to happen.

The impressive thing about him is how he never stopped working for the team when he couldn't buy a try himself. Here's hoping his hat-trick against the Wallabies dropped a broad hint to the Bok brains trust about what they should do with the ball.

Walkie-talkies are back

Heyneke Meyer's anguished screams into his walkie-talkie in his coaching booth has probably done more for the device than anything since it made its debut in World War 2.

After Meyer's antics, the walkie-talkie is now elbowing for room with iPads and iPhones and will never again be the sole preserve of security guards. There's an endorsement deal in the offing here.