Three-zip it was. But not in quite the way predicted by an arrogant minority of boorish, uninformed one-eyes who tarnish the good name of South African rugby and do a disservice to the even-handed, knowledgeable majority who support the Springboks. So, to that minority, here it is: Yes boys, the try-count was three nil to the Lions at your Ellis Park stronghold in the third test, and, in the process, South Africa's world class strength-in-depth was laid bare as being more hype than substance, with Peter de Villiers rudderless outfit smashed by a side which equalled the Lions previous biggest win over the Springboks set by the 1974 "Invincibles".

If the legacy from the 2009 Lions, dismissed before the tour by the Bok blinkered brigade as nothing more than cannon-fodder, is a bad case of the jitters going into a Tri Nations tournament which South Africa have not won since 2004, you have only yourselves to blame. One of many South African tour previews rubbishing the Lions characterised them as a bunch of plodders, but by the end of the series there was no question that the 2-1 test ledger was about the only area where South Africa were ahead, with a great series ending with the Boks knocked backwards in the trench warfare, and eventually run off their feet.

It is utterly wrong to label either of the sides in a series as ferocious and riveting as this as being off the pace, but in the Ellis Park grudge-match if one squad had to be tagged as being more pedestrian than the other, it was the bunch wearing green.

For the record, the 2009 Lions outscored the Springboks seven tries to five over the series, they had a better points aggregate over the three tests, and throughout it they played the more enterprising, attractive rugby. Their backs, with Rob Kearney a revelation at full back, looked the more coherent, incisive outfit in each test, and the team was true to the Ian McGeechan template of dynamic support play, with backs and forwards often linking seemlessly.

The only flaw for me was selection, despite coach McGeechan's reiteration in the tour wash-up press conference that he would have changed nothing, maintaining that the side for the first test was picked on form. This series was decided by very fine margins and my contention, voiced before and during this tour, is that if the Lions had powered-up their pack from the outset, with big beasts like Andrew Sheridan and Simon Shaw or Nathan Hines in the mix, they would have stood a better chance of emulating the victorious 1974 and 1997 tourists.

In running South Africa so close, the Lions have also done their Tri Nations rivals a favour in highlighting how dependent they have become on Fourie du Preez. The scrum-half is almost a one-man-band when it comes to giving South Africa a creative dimension, because, outside the running threat he poses, and the pin-point timing he showed in releasing wings JP Pietersen and Bryan Habana for their second test tries, the rest of the Bok game is more crash-bang-wallop than well crafted.

Those limitations will not have been lost on either the Wallaby coach, Robbie "Dingo" Deans, or his All Black counterpart, Graham Henry, and there are clear signals that if they can shut down Du Preez, and meet fire with fire on the gain-line as the Lions did, then the Springboks run out of ideas.

Another disappointment was the failure of the dream midfield of Morne Steyn, Wynand Olivier and Jaque Fourie to click, and there are rumblings already about the quality of the coaching and tactical planning being offered by De Villiers, with strong rumours that the squad is being run by captain John Smit and a group of senior players, and that they are re-visiting a Jake White 2007 blueprint which is becoming staler by the day.

Smit is a great Springbok captain, but the halo slipped at Ellis Park with his advocacy of the "Justice 4 Bakkies Botha" white armband protest, and a stronger coach with better judgement than De Villiers would have nipped it in the bud. He would have also told his bench to stop larking around on the pitch like kids minutes before the kick-off of a test in which they were given a lesson by a Lions side playing for pride.

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett got it right after the Johannesburg defeat when he said that one of South Africa's biggest problems is that they "get ahead of themselves". There is a lack of humility, with too many players being touted as better than they are, and there is also a reckoning coming with many of the 2007 World Cup and 2009 Lions series veterans reaching their motivational sell-by date.

Highly influential players like Smit, Botha, Victor Matfield and Danie Rossouw will be well past 30 by the 2011 World Cup, with others like Juan Smith and Jean de Villiers also at the watershed. These transitions are never easy - as England discovered after 2003 - and the Lions highlighted in the third test that some of their understudies have a way to go.

As for the South African minority, when it comes to the next Lions tour, better to zip-it beforehand and treat your opponents with more respect. They have earned it.

Nick Cain is travelling with Thomas Cook Sport, an official licensed operator of the British & Irish Lions tour. For more details go to www.thomascooksport.com