Having conquered the All Blacks earlier this year, the next fortnight stands as a challenge that Rassie Erasmus’s team need to overcome heading into the year they defend their World Cup title
Friday night’s game against France - with the unpredictability and precociousness of the French that awaits amongst a crowd of hostile Parisians - and next week's game against Ireland in Dublin remain personal battles the Boks will need to - and desperately want to - win to end the year off on a high note.
Whatever happens in the final of the Nations Championship is another discussion but given the history of the sides in the next fortnight, what it means for the World Cup in Australia next year and how it will cap off a monumental year for the Springboks, these games are by no means to be taken lightly.
That isn’t suggesting the Boks will do this in any way. Their team selection against Italy last weekend confirmed that.
The Azzurri are the Boks toughest opposition in the pool rounds of the World Cup and certainly demand a lot of respect, but the Boks know that if they stick to their plan, and execute as they did the first half in Turin they will be okay.
The French, though, offer a different challenge for the Boks.
Blessed with a pack that can normally hold its own, a dose of unpredictability, and a bunch of players that can thrill and excite, they can unlock any defence, but the question is just how much they can outmuscle the Boks and disrupt their game plan.
There is no argument that the brilliance of Antoine Dupont and others, on their day, is good enough to beat most teams.
But this Bok team is something else, and set the challenge in front of them of keeping their record, as well as one eye on the finals weekend, and there is more than enough motivation to put on a big performance in Paris.
They understand the hostility in the crowd, but this is the same place they won the World Cup in 2023, and where they won with 14 men last year.
The crowd may be one thing, but the Boks will need something special to disrupt them.
There is another reason the Boks will want this scalp - mainly because if all goes according to plan, they face a semifinal against France in the World Cup.
And the high pressure games don’t get much higher than that. This side has already proved that even at their age - many are on the wrong side of 30 - they were still good enough to beat the All Blacks convincingly in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
But they know in the next 10 days they will face the best of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Six Nations champions on their home turf, and an Irish side that will still want to prove they can compete - even though they were physically and psychologically dismantled last year in Dublin in a scrum contest that was brutal in its nature.
The French will bring the flair, the Irish will bring the grit and the structure. The Boks know they can beat both and if they handle both challenges - as different as they seem - well, they can end the year knowing they are in very good shape for the World Cup.
What happens in the Finals weekend happens, but if the Boks end top of the Hemisphere log, it would take a very brave man to bet against them.