The year began for the Springboks with convincing victories over the Welsh and the Italians. But an under-strength Wales and an Azzurri team whose stated game plan was to contain South Africa wasn't the most useful preparation for the toughest tournament in world rugby - the Tri-Nations.

No signals were exhibited by any of the Southern Hemisphere’s giants, considering that no northern team has tasted success against the Springboks, All Blacks or Wallabies since last year’s World Cup.

Some would argue that South Africa were handed the toughest draw in the Tri-Nations, a notoriously difficult tournament to win. Opening a tournament with a three-game road trip was arduous – especially beginning with a two-match series in New Zealand, where the All Blacks were on a world-record home winning streak and have lost just 35 times in over 100 years of rugby.

But irrespective of this, Peter de Villiers' men were playing their final games in the Republic, which conversely gave them a huge advantage in the closing stages of the competition.

The first match of the Tri-Nations was an immense contest - the two best teams in the world. This was the foremost test of the year; where last year's overwhelming cup favourites were to try for redemption against the team that had won the crown. 

Despite the All Blacks being at home, they were missing Richie McCaw and most pundits expected a rebuilding New Zealand team to struggle against the full-strength world champions. In what remains the pre-eminent Test match of 2008 in terms of intensity, the All Blacks defied the odds and handed the Springboks their first defeat of their championship reign, 19-8.

The biggest mistake was that the Springboks tried to intimidate the men in black without trying to impose their own style of play. The only team that intimidate the All Blacks are themselves and, led by a Dan Carter master class, they were determined to peg one up on the world champions.

In the return match at the House of Pain, the Springboks reaffirmed their status as world champions by defeating a polished All Black team 30-28 - ending New Zealand’s 30-match unbeaten run at home. This remains the finest performance by the South Africans this year, considering the parity between the two teams in the match.

It was here that the nightmare began for De Villiers (PDV) and his team as they proceeded to lose three successive matches, beginning with a lacklustre 16-9 loss against the Wallabies in Perth.

The strangest aspect of the 2008 Tri-Nations was that teams would turn around their fortunes in the most spectacular of fashions. The Springboks never got out of first gear against Australia in a match that was far down in intensity compared to the South Africans' historic victory in Dunedin.

Arriving home with their world No.1 ranking intact, most pundits reckoned that with three consecutive games in the daunting stadiums of the cape, the Boks would assert themselves on the world by taking the coveted Tri-Nations crown.

But the All Blacks arrived in Cape Town in a menacing mood, and completed their first-ever Black-out of South Africa at home, winning 19-0. It was here that PDV’s grand plan seemed to fall apart. Why was he changing the style of a team whose no-nonsense slant to rugby had won them the World Cup?

Ironically, the All Blacks showed the patience and pragmatism of the Jake White period to calmly inflict the world champions with their first loss at home.

The Springboks then allowed the Wallabies to create their own piece of history as they crashed to a 27-15 defeat in Durban – their fourth loss of 2008.

The only positive in these losses appeared to be the re-emergence of the South African scrum machine. But the habitual powers of Springbok rugby – the dominance of the tackle, lineout supremacy and uncompromising brutality – had seemed to desert the world champions. Despite South Africa fielding more depth than any other nation currently, their players simply were not standing up.

The subsequent inflicting of the Wallabies' worst-ever Test loss was impressive, but too little too late. Furthermore, the simple fact is that the Australians became more inept as the game wore on.

With a three-Test tour to the North coming up, it is imperative the Springboks re-assert themselves on the world stage.  Wales, the Six-Nations champions, will be far stronger at home, and Martin Johnson will no doubt wish for his England team to impose themselves on the South Africans.

The world champions will not close the year out as the world’s best team - but it is the incoming threat of the might of the British Lions that will be the focus of the Springboks come the month of June next year...

UPCOMING FIXTURES - Nov 8: Wales v South Africa (Millennium Stadium); Nov 15: Scotland v South Africa (Murrayfield); Nov 22: England v South Africa (Twickenham); June 20, 2009: Springboks v British Lions (Kings Park); June 27: Springboks v British Lions (Loftus Versfeld); July 4: Springboks v British Lions (Ellis Park).