As the tears flowed down the cheeks of Pieter-Steph du Toit after South Africa beat New Zealand 36-34 on Saturday, our country’s rugby fans will have remembered what passion for the Green and Gold means.
It’s been while since we have seen it.
But while there is reason for renewed optimism, they have set the benchmark.
That’s how you play rugby and that’s what will be expected every single time they take the field from now on.
I don’t want Du Toit to be overcome with emotion every single time, but I do want the Boks to defend their tryline like they did in those last few minutes as the All Blacks were looking to spoil their party every single time.
For far too long, the Springboks have focused on New Zealand only.
Fans celebrated as if the Boks had won the World Cup final, I bet even the players felt like that.
Newsflash: beating the All Blacks away from home for the first time since 2009 is great, but the world doesn’t end with New Zealand.
Heading into the weekend, South Africa were ranked a lowly seventh.
Coach Rassie Erasmus set it up perfectly.
He wanted to see what his players were capable of.
And I believe he meant it when he said that if they lost, he would be prepared to vacating his throne.
He won his players over. That’s how much confidence he has in them and they responded by beating the world champions without even having the bulk of the possession and the territory.
They did so with heart. South Africa simply wanted to win the match more than the world champions.
It did help that Beauden Barrett had an off day with the boot.
The reality for the Springboks is that they can’t always measure themselves against the All Blacks.
They have to pitch up like that for every single Test match.
Currently five other teams are ranked higher than the Springboks.
And the sooner Erasmus’ team realise that they can’t overlook these teams and only pitch up against the Kiwis, the better.
New Zealand knocked SA out of the last World Cup and also out of the 2003 tournament.
In 1999 and 2011, it was Australia that knocked out the Springboks.
South Africa, meanwhile, beat New Zealand in the 1995 final and also won the World Cup in 2007 without even facing the Kiwis.
While it’s always good to measure yourself against the best, you can’t forget the rest.
And that’s why next weekend’s game against Australia in Port Elizabeth will make for interesting viewing.
The Springboks are expected to win that match.
The pressure won’t be on the players or the coach.
So will they have the same mental approach for that game?