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The latest topic of conversation in and around the South African camp and in the rugby parts of the nation at large is that the South African team have not been given proper credit for their victory in the Test series and that we have all been far too busy mulling over matters such as injury, bad luck, refereeing, television replays and other allied matters.

This morning, none other than Gary Gold, one of the assistant South African coaches, was claiming that South Africa's victory has been almost forgotten amongst a barrage of publicity surrounding other matters. In passing, and whatever the merits of South Africa, it must be said that Gold and Dick Muir must deserve credit. From what we have heard from Peter de Villiers of late, it must be a nightmare to deal with him every day and, while I may be wrong, I strongly suspect that Mr Gold and Mr Muir will be treated by the medical staff at the end of every day for severely bitten lips.

But are we wrong to have discussed the Lions' ill-luck rather than the South African potential brilliance? The concept of ill-fortune on a rugby field is extremely complicated. For example, a touch judge could fail to spot in the first minute that a player has placed his foot three millimetres into touch, and the whole match then suffers a kind of chain reaction so that nothing subsequently is what it would have been without those three millimetres. You can soon disappear up blind alleys if you take into consideration every single bad thing which befell you.

Yet on the other hand, the bad luck suffered by the Lions last week was of a cataclysmic nature. You are well on top in the scrums and both your props are playing superbly well in the loose. Then you lose both your props inside the same movement. Furthermore, the heart of your team lies in the centre and then you lose your two centres in quick succession. Ghastly.

In conclusion, however, Gold definitely has a very good point and I feel that there has been no anti-Springbok element in the lack of credit that they have been given by the British and Irish side and camp-followers over here. There has just been so much emotion; there have been an incredible number of talking points and knotty problems to be discussed. I feel strongly that South Africa were highly lucky to win in Pretoria, but I have also seen more than enough international rugby - hundreds and hundreds of matches - to know that resilience is everything and that to have the mental and physical capability to strike back late on is half the battle.

Well done South Africa, well done indeed. And how good can you become? There will be more than a few Lions followers taking a keen interest in the Tri-Nations to come, because those fixtures will give the Lions tour some perspective. I worry about South Africa under the coaching of de Villiers and I worry that there is something lacking in their tactical nous.

But on the other hand, I would assume that Morne Steyn will be given a long run in the team to add some composure and fine kicking at fly half, and that Jaque Fourie will soon be regularly in harness with Jean de Villiers in the centre. Bakkies Botha would do himself a power of good if he stopped confusing the trappings and posturing of being a hard lock with the real thing.

Yet there is no doubt that this is potentially an outstanding team, wonderfully aggressive and physical. It is possible, given the changes in the New Zealand team of late, that the Springboks will go into the Tri-Nations as favourites.

Well done South Africa: to follow up a World Cup triumph with a victory over what Gold graciously and accurately called a world-class Lions performance is absolutely not to be sniffed at.

The Stephen Jones debate

Martin Ross is a genius. The mystery of a rugby tour to Argentina coupled with cheapness for foreign tourists makes this a must. It would also make the SANZAR nations realise that the Lions are the ones who hold the prize asset - and can take it away if they choose. As a result, demands such as fielding internationals in midweek games and non-ludicrous itineraries would be accepted to placate the baying hordes of hoteliers and rugby fans. Where do I sign up? Anthony Jackson, London