It was certainly some sort of year. The Bulls shucked off the memories of their horrible early days in the Super 12 by winning an all-South African final against the Sharks, and the Springboks romped to a second World Cup title in France without having to play the All Blacks, the Wallabies or the host nation.
The dominance of the Africans last year hinted at a major resurgence. But, of course, it has not taken long for some of the good work to be undone.
Jake White is gone as Springbok coach, feeling he was poorly treated by being told his job would be advertised halfway through the World Cup, and his replacement, Pieter de Villiers, has been given the job partly because he is black, a decision that has not been universally applauded.
The Bulls have lost their fine coach, Heyneke Meyer, upset at being overlooked for the Springbok job when he clearly had the best credentials.
And all five of the franchises have been hit hard by departures to the big bucks of European rugby, though that is a problem shared by the New Zealand and Australian sides.
Continuity tends to lead to success in this competition and, notwithstanding the loss of Meyer, the Bulls look best placed to challenge for the title.
Victor Matfield, the world's best lock, will be missed while he completes the French season with second division Toulon, but will possibly be back for the crunch end of the season to resume his magnificent partnership with Bakkies Botha.
Hooker Gary Botha is gone but Gurthro Steenkamp, Rayno Gerber and the magnificently named Chiliboy Ralepelle still form a massive front row, while Wikus van Heerden, Pedrie Wannenburg and Pierre Spies are quality loose forwards.
Peerless halfback Fourie du Preez guides a backline dominated by IRB player of the year Bryan Habana, complemented by steady first five Derick Hougaard, veteran centres JP Nel and Wayne Julies and winger Akona Ndungane.
The Sharks were the form team for much of the 2007 competition and after thrashing the Blues in a semifinal were desperately unlucky to lose the final by a point to the Blues in Durban.
Coach Dick Muir is back and hoping to continue the resurgence of a side that finished last as recently as 2005, but his immediate task is to replace the gaping holes left by his skipper (John Smit), first five (Butch James) and leading scorer (Percy Montgomery).
Muir landed one outstanding recruit, persuading gifted French first five-eighth Frederic Michalak to put his international career on hold and taste real southern hemisphere rugby.
There is plenty of other talent in the backline. Ruan Pienaar is a gifted halfback, Francois Steyn is the rising star with utility value, and JP Pietersen is a prolific try-scoring winger.
Props BJ Botha and Jannie du Plessis and lock Johann Muller lead the tight five, and AJ Venter has halted his retirement plans to join the promising Ryan Kankowski in the loose.
The other three South African teams finished in the bottom five last season and that could be where they are destined again.
The Stormers must be an immensely frustrating side to follow. They are stacked with talent but they constantly seem to be in poor form.
The man charged with turning that around is highly-rated young coach Rassie Erasmus, who joins from the Cheetahs and has had the squad working harder than ever at its Cape Town base.
Erasmus has immediately demoted divisive flanker Luke Watson and promoted midfield back Jean de Villiers to captain, and recruited halfback Ricky Januarie and prop Brian Mujati from the Lions.
The backline revolves around de Villiers and fullback Conrad Jantjes, and will welcome a familiar figure when Balclutha-born former Highlanders first five Tony Brown joins from Japan for a second season in South Africa.
Expectations are as low as usual in Johannesburg, where the Lions (formerly Cats) hold faint hopes of climbing out of the competition's bottom three for the first time since 2001.
Injuries have already caused problems, with Springbok first five Andre Pretorius and centre Jaque Fourie set to miss the opening rounds, while Mujati, Januarie and No 8 Jacques Cronje (France) will be missed.
Loose forward Joe van Niekerk will hope to get his career going again after returning from the Stormers, and Louis Ludik and Earl Rose are talented backs, but it is difficult to see where the Lions are going to pick up points.
The same can be said for the Cheetahs, now coached by former Springbok hooker Naka Drotske, who have struggled to be more than nuisance value since breaking away from the Cats in 2006.
Juan Smith is the star name in the pack, which also includes powerful prop CJ van der Linde, and Meyer Bosman and Bevan Fortuin are the leading lights in a limited backline.
