It took more than a decade but this year's Rugby Championship finally lived up to what it had long promised fans: being fast, fierce and wide open to the finish.
Now, having found its spark, the full version of the four-nation tournament will fade from view for at least two years as champions South Africa and New Zealand plot a traditional tour in 2026 without Australia and Argentina.
Ironically or perhaps fittingly, the decisive match of the Southern Hemisphere's premier competition was played out in the Northern Hemisphere at Twickenham, where the Springboks celebrated back-to-back titles with a 29-27 win over the Pumas.
It was another reminder of the commercial forces that have long squeezed the tournament into unnatural places and cramped its dimensions in the global calendar.
There were other reminders on show as coaches waged and lost battles with Northern Hemisphere clubs to keep their best players in camp.
Australia's fans may wonder why Will Skelton missed half the Rugby Championship while on club duty in France and whether the big lock could have made a difference.
Without him, the Wallabies slumped to a series of tight defeats and finished third on the table following a 28-14 loss to the second-placed All Blacks in Perth on Saturday.
Despite finishing with two wins and four losses, Australia played to capacity crowds at their home games and will have lost few fans from falling short in most of them.
Joe Schmidt's side proved they have the game to trouble the best, beating world champions South Africa at Ellis Park for the first time since the 1960s.
The last-placed Pumas also bowed out with two wins and four defeats, a record that suggests nothing of their competitiveness throughout.
The Pumas suffered only one major blow-out, a 67-30 hammering by the Springboks in Durban.
Even then, they quickly recovered for the finale at Twickenham, where they fell only two points short of denying the Springboks the title.
ENDING A DECADES-LONG HOODOO
The Pumas earlier pulled off one of their most famous victories, a first win over New Zealand on home soil in Buenos Aires that ended a decades-long hoodoo.
It was not the only bloody nose for Scott Robertson's All Blacks, who suffered their worst-ever test defeat when they went down 43-10 to the Springboks in front of a shell-shocked Wellington crowd.
For the first time since Argentina joined what had been the Tri-Nations in 2012, the tournament remained wide open to the finish, with its mix of upsets, thrillers and comebacks garnering rave reviews across the globe.
Such acclaim has been rare for the Southern Hemisphere showpiece, which has invariably been lop-sided and dominated by New Zealand.
With the Rugby Championship usually cut in half during World Cup years, there may not be another full tournament until 2029 or later.
There has been no indication it will return as an annual competition, or how it will fit with the long-mooted "Nations Championship" between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere teams, which is slated to launch next year and shake up the calendar.
Governing body Sanzaar have declined to comment on the Rugby Championship's future but are expected to release a roadmap for 2026-30 in the coming weeks.
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus, though, was not holding his breath after the victory at Twickenham.
"Maybe this is the last Rugby Championship," he said. "I'm not 100 per cent sure how it will work in the future. So it meant a hell of a lot."