Coach Rassie Erasmus declared himself satisfied with South Africa’s international season that brought a dominant win in the Rugby Championship and an unbeaten run through the Autumn Internationals for the first time since 2013.
The Springboks thumped Wales 45-12 in Cardiff on Saturday to end the season with 11 wins from 13 tests, their only blemishes one-point defeats to Ireland and Argentina.
The latter of those was down to an extensive rotation policy that has seen the Springboks use 51 players in 2024 as Erasmus builds his squad depth with the 2027 Rugby World Cup in mind as they aim for a hat-trick of titles.
"My worry at the beginning of the season was how will the players take the swapping in and out, the building, and accepting that we are not (a squad of) 25 players, but 50 plus. I was not sure if the older guys would understand that," Erasmus told reporters.
"But we were honest with them at the beginning of the season and they all bought into the plan, which is admirable.
"Numbers are one thing, but it was more important how those players slotted in and how we did not lose a lot of momentum. I would have thought that would be the case.
"It is not easy for the players when you are constantly chopping and changing, but they have handled it (not playing) well and we finished things off well as a group."
The Springboks also had a change in the technical team with former New Zealand flyhalf Tony Brown added as attack coach and ex-Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery as defence coach.
"The way they slotted in and assisted the team was fantastic," Erasmus said.
South Africa scored seven tries in their victory over Wales but were inaccurate at times.
"It was a dominant performance for us but when you make so many changes you are going to lack the finishing," he said. "The effort the guys put out there, you have to give the players credit."
South Africa do not have any tests for the next seven months until they welcome Italy for two matches at home in July next year.