It's been a topsy-turvy year for Jacques Nienaber and the Springboks, and one where they will finish in 4th position in the World Rugby rankings.
By beating England at Twickenham on Saturday, South Africa made it two wins out of four on their end-of-year tour to Europe.
The 27-13 win at the home of England rugby was impressive as the Springboks dominated Eddie Jones' charges for large parts of the encounter.
Even when losing Thomas du Toit in the 60th minute to a red card, South Africa didn't look in any danger of suffering the same fate as New Zealand a week earlier as their defence held strong with only 14 men on the field.
Thanks to the win, the Boks claimed 0.96 ranking points, although that wasn't enough to claim third place from the All Blacks.
Ireland ended the year as the top-ranked side, ahead of France. Both sides beat South Africa, albeit in controversial circumstances, with Rassie Erasmus querying some referee decisions in both encounters.
READ | Bok coach Nienaber takes in 'special' first win at Twickenham: 'It was a team effort'
Jacques Nienaber's men picked up 0.96 points for their win, but it wasn't enough to see them leap-frog New Zealand into third place.
The only other Test match played this weekend saw Australia beat Wales 39-34.
1. Ireland - 90.63 points
2. France - 90.01 points
3. New Zealand - 88.98 points
4. South Africa – 88.97 points
5. England – 83.66 points
6. Australia – 81.80 points
7. Scotland – 81.55 points
8. Argentina – 80.72 points
9. Wales – 78.09 points
10. Japan – 77.39 points