When it comes to recent achievements of the Tri-Nations sides, then South Africa, as victors over the British and Irish and Lions, enter the tournament with the biggest sense of fulfilment.

It was the Springboks' first series success against the touring Lions since 1980, and only their second since 1968. 

If John  Smit and his world champions had a final frontier as such, then it has now been conquered, and they now turn their menacing attention to the Tri-Nations.

While one could say that the Springboks have achieved everything they wanted, with the SARU cabinets resplendent with the World Cup, Super 14 trophy and even the current IRB Sevens series cup, surely there is still a sense of unfinished business.

They have not held the Tri-Nations - the ultimate symbol of Southern Hemisphere supremacy – since 2004. Furthermore, as newly-crowned world champions, last season was realistically a case of “what if?”

While the landmark victory over the All Blacks in Dunedin and heaviest defeat of the Wallabies in Australian Test history were the highlights, the reality is that they lost twice to those respective sides and came last in the 2008 tournament.

On paper, the Springboks did have the strongest Test team in the world last year, and should have achieved more.

To reflect briefly on the Lions tour, the South Africans deserve more credit than most people have given them. After all, despite initial murmurs to the contrary, it was a very strong and very well coached Lions side and, but for the benefit of a slight faux pas from a certain Irish No.10, the result could have been very different.

It was a Lions team that played brilliantly in the Test series, especially when considering they struggled to put away some weakened provincial sides.

Former Springboks coach Carel du Plessis was right when he said that South Africa were not at their best. But, irrespective of any factors, the annals of history will not be changed.

The question for South Africa is, can they get better? Or are the world champions actually on the decline?

Certainly, there are aspects that do not bode well for a team that should be marching into the Tri-Nations as title favourites. 

The are world champions, courtesy of the title they won in Paris in 2007. But there is something missing from their mindset, and we could look at the pure definition of a champion to understand the problem with this very good team.

They are a team who are letting something get in the way of what could or should be global rugby domination.

Let us put aside their physicality, no matter how borderline it may be. One of the great attributes of any Springbok team is their adroit ability to physically intimidate, and this hybrid is no different. 

Do some of the acts of players such as Bakkies Botha or Schalk Burger classify as cheating? Well, only if they are caught in the act. 

Having a somewhat eccentric coach in Peter de Villiers is almost moot, when we consider that the final act of the South Africans was the protest over Botha's ban.

Here was an act that quite simply should not have happened. Players of the class and seniority of Smit or Victor Matfield should have stopped this stroke. Especially as players who have won the World Cup.

This was the thumbing of a system and a sport in which they hold the highest honour - this was not the act of champions of the rugby world. 

Surely, champions should be setting some form of example.

There are other ways of remonstrating that are not only politically correct, but set rugby-based benchmarks. Such as whitewashing a Lions team who were 0-2 down in the three-Test series and wondering what they have to do to beat this unsentimental South African team.

This could be the issue with the approaching Tri-Nations.

The All Blacks, as defending champions, know they have a point to prove. Equally, the Wallabies know that they are in all probability in the best position of the three Tri-Nations sides - and that if they perform to maximum potential, they could win the title.

For the Springboks, this should be their final frontier. If they can win this Tri-Nations, then it is indeed a rugby royal flush of achievements, and it would sign off this current generation of South African rugby players as possibly the best of their proud and illustrious history.

They are capable of it. Their set pieces are strong and their lineout almost unchallengeable. In the forward exchanges, they have the back row and the animal presence to disrupt any team, even the well-machined loose forwards of both the All Blacks and Wallabies.

With those forwards combining with backs like Fourie Du Preez and Bryan Habana, they have world-class players who on their day are quite simply the best on the planet.

The only remaining question is over their game plan and their mindset.

They CAN win this Tri-Nations tournament, and the history that awaits is as great as any Lions scalp.