One of the major concerns for Springbok supporters heading into the upcoming three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions will be the match-readiness of the side.
The Boks, of course, have not played a Test match since 2 November 2019 when they beat England 32-12 at International Stadium Yokohama to win the World Cup and send South Africa into a state of delirium.
It was one of this country's finest sporting moments, but it feels like forever ago now.
With the coronavirus pandemic having rocked the globe for the last 16 months, sport has taken a back seat and the Boks were one of the many teams to suffer.
There was an opportunity to play in the Rugby Championship last year, but sanity prevailed given that South Africa had barely been able to stage any rugby at that stage.
Since then, though, we have seen Super Rugby Unlocked, the Currie Cup, a domestic 'preparation series' and the recently-completed PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA.
The Boks, meanwhile, are currently based in Bloemfontein and the overwhelming feeling is that the players, despite having not worn green and gold together in over a year-and-a-half, are on track for the 24 July series opener against the Lions at Cape Town Stadium.
As assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says, there can no longer be any excuses.
"The last time we played was in 2019, but the last time the British & Irish Lions played as a team was in 2017," Stick said.
"We can't say we are at a disadvantage at the moment.
"The good thing is that if you look at the core of our squad, we have had players overseas ... they've been playing week in and week out and we're talking about tough, physical conditions.
"Some of our players have been in France, we had about five in Japan and if you look at all those players, they have each had between eight and 10 games in the last couple of months.
"We are in a good position and our local guys like Lukhanyo (Am), Ox (Nche) and Siya (Kolisi), those guys have also been playing week in and week out.
"We are in a good space."
The Boks do have two warm-up Tests against Georgia on 2 and 9 July, while Stick added that the South Africa 'A' game against the British Lions in Cape Town on 14 July would also be used as an opportunity to prepare for the main series.
"Nobody is interested in listening to our excuses," Stick added.
"As a squad we have been doing very well and we have been able to put our systems in place with who we have here in Bloemfontein.
"There are no excuses. We are excited and looking forward to this challenge."