And that was that. The Lions, who were judged in some quarters to be one of the weakest sides ever sent abroad and deemed easy prey for a South African team playing at their beloved Ellis Park, came through to run up a record score, playing the Springboks to a complete standstill when they should have been utterly exhausted. They trooped off with the twin emotions of joy and the most profound frustration that they did not take a series which was there for the taking.

There was so much controversy, so much griping and groaning. There was the dull start to the tour and the half-empty stadiums. There was the endless refereeing controversy - part of which was caused by the distractions of the now buried laws experiment.

There was dirty play and the preposterous reaction to it from the South African camp.

There was also a very valid point made yesterday in Johannesburg by James Robson, the near-legendary Lions doctor who has been on every tour since the Boer War and was still magnificently influential this time.

Robson is a quiet man, not given to outrageous statements, but wearing his hat conveying responsibility for player welfare, wondered just how much more physically ferocious rugby could become.

He is clearly anxious at the large number of injuries in collisions and other contact, and even suggested that a trend will start away from the gym-monkey giants and back towards a more skilful and smaller species of player. However, he did not sound completely convinced that this would happen.

If we ever needed the International Rugby Board to be wise, then it is now. Not only do they have to work hard to standardise interpretations and sort out the shambles that is the breakdown, but they also have to take the game in a new direction so that a premium is put on more skill, while the bedrock of forward power is retained. And by that, I mean that they must work around established precepts, rather than inventing silly new ideas.

But while there are so many concerns, my prevailing feeling at the end of the 2009 tour and at the end of Ian McGeechan's wonderful tour of duty with the Lions - it has lasted from 1974 to 2009 - is one of uplift.

There was something in the air after the Third Test on Saturday. Naturally, with around 25,000 red-shirted supporters in town, scenes in many of the bars and nightclubs were approaching carnage. My mate John complained bitterly that I did not recognise him, and frankly, I had no excuse whatsoever other than the fact that he was wearing a lion's head.

Yet the atmosphere between the two teams at the very end was excellent with John Smit departing into the night vowing to further burnish his strong friendship with Phil Vickery but also to take as many drinks as he could with as many other Lions.

Most of the speeches at the post-match dinner were nothing short of disastrous but the message from everyone was that the Lions are bigger now than they were at the start of the tour. It is to be hoped that messages are filtering across to Australia and also back home to Britain and Ireland, that the Lions must tour on their own terms and must also be given an interval of at least three weeks to prepare following the end of any domestic season.

Despite all the controversy, it seemed to me in the Lions hotel on Saturday night and Sunday morning that the sport's old balance remains. There was a giant throng of revellers, including almost everyone I have ever met in rugby. There were players and officials mingling happily, with community singing conducted by Alyn-Wyn Jones. The atmosphere was terrific, with people buoyed up mightily by the fact that they had just watched three quite breathtaking international rugby matches.