South Africa were voted the men’s team of the year at the World Rugby awards last year.
Having picked up back-to-back Rugby Championships, the world’s number one-ranked team could be picking up the prize again.
But what makes the achievement more remarkable is the amount of players head coach Rassie Erasmus has used.
“I think we used close to 47 players and I’d love to have given more chances,” he said.
Defeats by Australia and New Zealand over the first three games put pressure on Erasmus – but subsequent results made clear the “risk” to develop talent was worth it.
Three wins from three games followed to secure the title, with 23-year-old Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starting all of them.
A Springbok record 37 points against Argentina in Durban was the highlight as Feinberg-Mngomezulu developed as a potential frontrunner to start at fly-half in November.
Ethan Hooker, 22, began the final three games on the left wing and produced a standout performance against New Zealand, while Canan Moodie, also 23, started at outside centre in the final three games.
With the title on the line, Erasmus trusted his young stars and they delivered.
Selection will now heat up for the autumn as the Springboks’ World Cup winners will hope to return to the side, especially for games against France and Ireland.
Erasmus once said he would “rather win the World Cup than sit at an 85% win rate”.
Well, he has now built a squad that looks like it can do both.
“I think one of our goals is to stay in the present, do well, and not just focus on the World Cup,” he added.
“But I think definitely trying to build squad depth played a role in the lack of continuity.”