Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – The right stuff, a lot of the time … and off to a Vodacom Tri-Nations near-flier.

That was South Africa's happy lot in Bloemfontein on Saturday, where taking out the never-say-die All Blacks by nine points, and importantly denying them a bonus-point pilfer, amounted to a praiseworthy day for John Smit's troops at a chilly but also cockle-warming "office".

It was a Test match in the finest tradition of these titanic foes, played with unfailing intensity and commitment - even if sometimes notably lacking in finesse when some scoring opportunities flickered but then daftly dimmed - and in first-class spirit as well.

And in the final analysis the Springboks' four log points to zero from the encounter was just about the fitting outcome, when weighed over the full 80 minutes.

Even with that thought grudgingly in mind, however, the vanquished New Zealanders certainly left us in no doubt at times why theirs, like ours, is a land of rugby legend and that they will not hand over their mantle as Tri-Nations champions without several more spicy chapters having to be penned to the intriguing 2009 script.

I can think of a few nations, after all, who might have been inclined to go haplessly belly-up after the concerted, often awesome ammo the Boks fired in the first half.

Let's not forget that South Africa, bossing field position and possession to a thrillingly imperious degree, switched ends 11 points to the good, and it might have been nearer 20 had Ruan Pienaar not made a pig's ear of several opportunities at the posts.

That said, you could hardly fault his more general play at flyhalf until a lower leg or ankle problem forced the luckless fellow to make way for Morne Steyn for the entire second period.

The Bulls' well nigh auto-pilot kicker, needless to say, duly banged over virtually everything that came his way and was responsible for the precious 77th minute strike from halfway that deprived the All Blacks of finishing within seven points. How important might that be in the final competition tally-up?

But back to the New Zealand fightback: who knows what was said in the shed, but if thoughts of a Bok cricket score may have entered some partisan minds, they were earnestly quelled as the visitors, making light of their marathon travel six days earlier and the altitude factor, roared right back into the picture.

Indeed, an unlikely All Black snaffle of the fixture loomed unpleasantly large for the Free State faithful as the score was slashed back to a ding-dong 20-16 with some 17 minutes left.

But then two commendably opportunistic phenomena which South African fans have become accustomed to swung into action: a breakout stab-and-chase by that hulking athlete Pierre Spies and a five-pointer finish in the right-hand corner by a certain Jaque Fourie. (The unglamorous but ever-industrious Juan Smith's precious final pass in the raid must not be discounted, either.)

That really killed the contest, and not before time from a relieved Springbok point of view.

Then again, it would be grossly inaccurate to assume South Africa had become rattled to any truly dangerous extent, because even as Richie McCaw's side found their second wind, forays deep into the Bok quarter were few and far between – the World Cup champions' defensive composure and drive-back tackling lustre was evident virtually throughout this game.

We certainly were reassured that there is sparkly life left in many of the Paris 2007 legs, with the old firm at lock of Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha absolutely sublime, I thought.

Matfield was assured under the kick-off ball and made the All Black lineout an unrelenting misery, while his enforcer colleague finally produced the sort of blood-and-thunder showing against these opponents to banish any whispers that he somehow goes "quiet" when Brad Thorn is in the rival XV.

Bismarck du Plessis was pure pit-bull, too, and the Sharks hooker, thus far in the international season, has massively resurrected his credentials after looking strangely headless-chicken for parts of the Super 14.

Another of "Jake’s boys", Bryan Habana, symbolised the overall Springbok urgency and zest in Bloemfontein – how about we grant embattled coaching incumbent Peter de Villiers some credit for that? – by hunting down high balls into All Black territory with rare relish, often thumping back meaty forwards trying to tidy up the bombs.

It was encouraging, though, that this memorable South African triumph was not founded exclusively on the efforts of fight-scarred old soldiers: the man-of-the-match accolade went to novice fetcher Heinrich Brussow, a popular outcome from a local point of view.

If this mole inhabited my garden I probably wouldn't have any lawn left, and the fact that he made a nuisance of himself to an equal or better degree to his opposite number, the legendary McCaw, speaks volumes of his meteoric strides in Test rugby.

He got under the British and Irish Lions' skins endlessly and now he is repeating the dose on the All Blacks – this guy certainly chooses esteemed foes to unsettle despite his youth, doesn't he?

Somehow, too, Brussow has down to a fine art the ability to wreak his havoc narrowly within the bounds of the law, and knows when to let go and move on to the next breakdown for a "steal" opportunity.

So now a mob of mutually bruised men move on to Durban, and doubtless another crackling encounter.

Springbok euphoria will be tempered by the knowledge that a neutralising All Black win would represent an excellent mini-tour outcome for the visitors, in the context of the competition – the Boks have to rise up all over again to ensure that doesn't happen.

All hands back to the pump from Monday, then … but let the SA lads savour this conquest until then.