I landed back in London after a whistle-stop tour to the US of A.

My body’s tired and my brain is fried, I’ve done client engagements on top of a week of meetings and a lot of catching up with colleagues, clients and friends. A lot to complain about if I looked at life through the wrong lens.

But the overwhelming feeling is pride and happiness.

The Springboks did that for me. They also did it for almost all of the 45 to 50 thousand people that were in Baltimore to watch their national team in green and gold.

That’s a guess, but the roar from the crowds certainly felt like it was about that number compared to locals and All Blacks supporters making up the rest of the 68,000 that were recorded as present.

I owe them a big thank you, because the tiredness and feelings of burnout were swept away by their excellent performance in the biggest game that they needed to deliver, and deliver they did.

Andre Esterhuizen was brilliant again off the bench, DDA and JK amazing in their roles too.

Morne Van den Berg stepped right into a role that (even I) many thought he was only a pretender to. Not true, he is the real deal.

Damian Willemse – so good to have him back at the back, he is so dependable, so confident and so good!

And Cameron Hanekom… great awareness to score a great try, he is going to go far. As a bolter off the bench the other loose forwards had done such a good job again, that he could step into an attacking role straight away.

Then Kurt-Lee split the field, went the length and broke their spirits, what a finish!

The mighty pack has been really, really good throughout the series.

Four amazing games in a row, one of them lost. Three of them reactions to that loss, amazing from the Springboks, amazing from the administrative staff and coaching staff of both teams, and I also am in awe of all the logistics and planning that was needed to get these two great teams to America.

An opportunity to test the market, see the stadiums, understand what the travel was like and then deliver a performance that was needed for the baying fans of both teams. No one was disappointed about the clash, perhaps the All Blacks were disappointed that they couldn’t be closer, but they were humble and complimentary of their opposition.

I’ve travelled the length and breadth of South Africa, watched provincial games, watched all the Tests, seen a match or two on TV and now travelled to America and watched the Springboks perform.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry has been an absolute delight in its initial form.

I think we can tweak it, sure, improve it, yes, but the basics are there and proud South African fans are not diminished in any way by the opposition fans who’ve been magnanimous in defeat.

They are so proud of their team and they will look forward to welcoming us to the mighty land of New Zealand in four years’ time.

Looking forward already, is it good enough preparation to go all the way to a World Cup? We’ll see.

Is the squad big enough and experienced enough in most positions, yes.

Can they all stick together all the way through to next year’s big competition?

I think the rest of this year will be a better indicator than just these four games but certainly feel that we’ve gone deeper in many positions than we’ve been for a long, long time. The rest will be told in time.

South Africa as a country stood up and hosted our greatest foes. They enjoyed themselves. They drank our wine, visited our farms, visited our stadiums, went to our beaches and went on safari on a travel extravaganza that they will never ever forget.

As fans and South Africans, we can all be proud of that, but let’s also never be the fans that can be hated for an attitude of ‘we won everything’ and pointing fingers and laughing at the opposition.

I believe New Zealand and their mighty All Blacks stood up, they were never out of any game.

They were very, very good and we were just good enough to edge them in the three matches that matter.

So we need to take the learnings and we need to take the victory with humility and move forward.

I think it’s a great moment for South Africa to reflect on and I think it’s something that we can be proud of, but I certainly think it is only one step forward in preparing for that final hurdle of a third World Cup in a row.

Let’s focus on what’s in front of us right now as we see the gold and green of the Wallabies rise in front of us, then the end of the Nations Championship at the end of this year will be a good indicator as well of our strength going forward.

In short, it’s hats off to Rassie and his coaching team, absolutely outstanding, great work and taking the focus off the team and putting the focus on the conversations while the team prepared quietly in the background.

They prepared, then strategically thought their way through and then they delivered physically and then in a demanding environment.

I’m back home, I’m tired and worn out but oh my goodness I’m so proud to be a South African rugby supporter.

This is my last column following the players, games and action from Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry – it’s been a blast and thanks for all the follows, comments and conversations.

I look forward to doing more with KickOff Rugby, Novus Media and Die Papier in future.

Follow me on LinkedIn, don’t be strangers and let’s keep supporting the Boks and South African sport!