The Blue Bulls have been the standard bearers of South African rugby in 2009, and they placed the seal on a massive season for them by regaining the Currie Cup title in Pretoria on Saturday.
Their 36-24 win was achieved in typical Bulls fashion against a Free State Cheetahs team that dominated possession and territory, and would have ended the match saying: "We played the most rugby but we lost the match".
That has been the story of the rugby year, and once again it was the Bulls and Bok goalkicking metronome Morné Steyn who was the difference between the teams.
Steyn, also a pivotal player in the Springbok Tri-Nations triumph as well as the Bulls' excellent win in the Super 14, was one of 15 Bulls players included in the 37-man Springbok touring squad that was named after the final.
That would hardly be considered surprising after the way the Bulls have dominated the year, but what was surprising was the absence of any Cheetahs front-row player from the names read out by South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskens.
It was thanks chiefly to the efforts of their scrum that the Cheetahs were able to stage one of the great comebacks of modern rugby by sneaking into the final, after they looked dead and buried halfway through the season. The Cheetahs front-row was again solid yesterday, but it was the way they dominated the all-Springbok combination of Beast Mtwarira, Bismarck du Plessis and John Smit in the semi-finals that makes their omission such a shock.
All of the Sharks front-row men have been retained, along with back-up tighthead Jannie du Plessis, with the surprise selection being that of Heinke van der Merwe. The young Lions loosehead is highly rated but has hardly played rugby this season because of injury.
It must also be an effort on the part of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers to keep a straight face in justifying the selections of the two Bulls reserve hookers, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bandise Maku, ahead of form players such as the irrepressible Western Province No 2 Tiaan Liebenberg and the Cheetahs' Adriaan Strauss.
Another big surprise is the retention of fullback/flyhalf Earl Rose, a player highly rated by De Villiers but not in many of the shadow squads drawn up by critics in the build-up to the announcement.
In De Villiers' defence, however, he has always backed Rose and should at least be lauded for having the guts to stick with the erratic Lions utility back, who remains as likely to lose a match as win it for his team.
There were only three WP players included in the group, with Ricky Januarie being omitted, but there was a well-deserved call up for young centre Juan de Jongh, one of the revelations of the past domestic season.
Another of the impressive newcomers to earn selection is former WP Under-21 player Francois Hougaard, a scrumhalf who has played most of the Currie Cup on the wing for the Bulls.
But there were also several impressive performers from the competition that were missing, perhaps the most surprising omission being that of Lionel Mapoe, the young Cheetahs winger who was again noticeable in yesterday's final.
By contrast Jongi Nokwe, left out of the Cheetahs team for the decider, has been included.
As always in South African rugby there was clearly a lot of politics involved in the selection, which would explain why there were so many players included who are not first choices at their provinces.
Among the areas that will come under close focus on the coming tour, which will see the Test team and a development team basically undertaking separate trips, with the second-stringers not getting Bok blazers, is at lock.
Here the bolter was young Sharks player and former national age-group captain Alistair Hargreaves, who has only recently returned to the playing field after a long injury lay-off.
The uncapped players in the tour group are De Jongh, Griquas fullback Riaan Viljoen, Bulls scrumhalf Heini Adams, Hougaard, Griquas flanker Davon Raubenheimer, Cheetahs loose-forward Ashley Johnson, Maku, Hargreaves and Bulls flanker Dewald Potgieter.
Anticipated omissions from the squad that won the Tri-Nations include Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn, both now overseas, as well as the injured flank Juan Smith.
The regular Free State captain would have been stunned as he watched from the Loftus sidelines last night as the Bulls powered into a 24-0 lead after just 20 minutes.
In that period the Cheetahs did all the attacking and playing, and were forced to make just six tackles in the first quarter against the more than 20 the Bulls were forced to make.
But having possession is no longer nine tenths of rugby lore, and as they have done since Heyneke Meyer started their turn-around in 2002, the Bulls proved adept at feeding off the Cheetahs mistakes.
While it was the Cheetahs who built up the moves and spun the ball down the line, the Bulls just defended before pouncing with alacrity on turn-over ball, one of the tries being sparked by a turn-over just metres away from their own line before Fourie du Preez put Bryan Habana away.
Habana scored twice in his last appearance for the Bulls before moving to WP next season and he more than made up for his infamous part in the shock Bulls defeat to the same opponents in 2006, when his yellow card set the Bulls on a downward slope.
(Caps in brackets)
Forwards
John Smit - Sharks,Captain (90);Victor Matfield - Blue Bulls, Vice-Captain (89); Andries Bekker - Western Province (18); Bakkies Botha - Blue Bulls (63); Heinrich Brüssow - Cheetahs (10); Schalk Burger - Western Province (53); Bismarck du Plessis - Sharks (30); Jannie du Plessis - Sharks (12);Alistair Hargreaves - Sharks (0); Ashley Johnson - Cheetahs (0); Ryan Kankowski - Sharks (10); Bandise Maku - Blue Bulls (0);Tendai Mtawarira - Sharks (19);Dewald Potgieter - Blue Bulls (0); Chiliboy Ralepelle - Blue Bulls (8); Davon Raubenheimer - Griquas (0); Danie Rossouw - Blue Bulls (43);Pierre Spies - Blue Bulls (28);Gurthro Steenkamp - Blue Bulls (22);Heinke van der Merwe - Lions (1) Backs
Heini Adams - Blue Bulls (0);Meyer Bosman - Cheetahs (3); Juan de Jongh - Western Province (0); Fourie du Preez - Blue Bulls (52); Jaque Fourie - Lions (51);Bryan Habana - Blue Bulls (54); Francois Hougaard - Blue Bulls (0);Adi Jacobs - Sharks (28); Zane Kirchner - Blue Bulls (1); Odwa Ndungane - Sharks (6); Jongi Nokwe - Cheetahs (4); Wynand Olivier - Blue Bulls (24);Ruan Pienaar - Sharks (35);JP Pietersen - Sharks (30); Earl Rose - Lions (0);Morne Steyn - Blue Bulls (9);Riaan Viljoen - Griquas (0)
Nov 6: v Leicester at Welford Road (9.45pm SA time)
Nov 13:TEST v France at Municipal Stadiu m,Toulouse (9.45pm)
Nov 17: v Saracens at Wembley Stadium (9.45pm)
Nov 21:TEST v Italy at Stadio Friuli,Udine (4pm)
Nov 28:TEST v Ireland at Croke Park,Dublin (4.30pm)