The Rainbow Nation is number one at Christmas for the third successive year and bookmakers make them strong favourites to still be top of the pops when they defend the Webb Ellis Cup in 2027.

Springboks full-back Aphelele Fassi knows 12 days is a long time in rugby, never mind two years, having sat counting the hours since concussion against Saracens forced him to miss the Sharks' defeat of the Bulls at the weekend.

But the 27-year-old is certain the culture instilled by Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi will keep the national team sharp as it builds towards its historic tilt at repeating the World Cup triumphs in Japan and France.

"There is totally no chance of us thinking success will come just because we have had it before, without needing to put the work in," Fassi told Planet Rugby.

"The boys are a million miles from being complacent. The coaches constantly challenge us to become better. No two weeks in camp are the same.

"We know what a privilege it is to be a part of the Springboks squad. As I see it, you're either playing for the best team in the world, and you want to stay in the best team in the world. Or you're training against the best team in the world to be able to improve your skills."

South Africa have this year retained the Rugby Championship for the first time and beaten all-comers on their European tour.

They handed New Zealand a record defeat in Wellington, beat France in Paris with 14 men and scrummaged Ireland into the dust in Dublin.

Their lead at the top of the world rankings is bigger than it was a year ago and through considered selection Erasmus has developed a deeper pool of Test-ready talent.

South Africa, though, are not unbeatable. Australia stunned them by scoring 38 unanswered points to turn a 22-0 deficit into a first win at Ellis Park for 62 years.

Three weeks later the Springboks had their own shot at history at Eden Park, where they had not won since 1937, and missed the target. They were bettered in all areas by New Zealand before Ardie Savea marked his 100th cap with the win-clinching turnover.

The way the Boks responded to those two losses, however, reinforces the suspicion they are a class apart at this midpoint in the World Cup cycle.

Eight straight wins, 361 points scored and just 98 conceded, an average of 45-12 across a run of fixtures which included New Zealand, Argentina, twice, France and Ireland; all but one played outside South Africa.

Fassi sees Kolisi's captaincy as a key ingredient and goes further; crediting his Stormers-bound club-mate with helping rescue him from a mid-career slump after he lost his place - and his way - following a hot start to his Test career.

"Siya has long reminded us that when you put on the Springbok jersey you not only put it on for yourself, but for the young kid that hopes to wear it one day; for the 65 million people of South Africa whose dreams we carry," he says.

"He talks about us putting that jersey on to unite South Africa as a whole. We know people face many challenges and we don't forget that. It gives us something bigger than rugby to play for.

"Siya is a special human being," adds Fassi, a member of the Roc Nation stable. "Everyone knows he leads by example. He also always wants to help others, even guys that have been in the team a long time."

Fassi says he thinks of Kolisi as "like a brother", someone he can easily talk to. When he went from scoring with his first touch on his Test debut to South Africa's young player of the year to then being dropped before the last World Cup, he reached for the phone.

"That period I went through, when things were not going my way - I was not being selected, I was getting injured, needing surgery, always asking why always me? - I called Siya," he says.

"I look back on it now as a good lesson for me in the sense that not everything that happens in your life will be smooth sailing. Certain things you have to work for, dig deep into yourself and see where you can be better.

"But at the time I was really struggling. Siya was playing in France but made time to give me advice. 'Talk to the coaches more about your game,' he advised. 'Work as much on your weaknesses as your strengths. Show more dominance and physicality'."

Fassi has never lacked for competitiveness. Growing up the second youngest of six siblings he would play touch rugby in the street with two much older brothers and their friends.

"I took that drive into school," he explains. "Always wanting to win, always wanting to be the best, always feeling the need to improve on the last time."

He found an unlikely rugby hero in Israel Dagg, the insanely gifted, but injury-prone full-back who played 66 Tests for South Africa's arch-rivals New Zealand between 2010-17.

"People said my game was quite similar to Andre Joubert, which was a big compliment," says a player nicknamed the Weekend Special for his ability to turn defence into attack.

"But the Rolls Royce [as Joubert was known] was before my time. When I was at school, staying at hostels and waking up early, New Zealand games were on the television.

"I loved how Israel Dagg saw and played the game. Watching and learning from how he attacked, how he saw space and how he defended, gave me an edge. I definitely looked up to him."

With belief restored following that phone call to Kolisi, Fassi got himself back into the South Africa team and despite injury in Wellington curtailing his progress in the second half of this year, is excited for what the future holds.

"It's lovely working with a coach that backs you," he says. "Rassie tells you that 'today is your day, go showcase yourself out there'.

"His message is, 'Play to the best of your ability, not with fear but with confidence'. Having a coach that believes in you, that gives you the freedom and license to play is amazing.

"He wants us to trust the process, take it game by game, keep goals within the next period of time. If you're playing the Rugby Championship, for example, keep your focus within that tournament.

"The World Cup is a long way off yet. For us the focus is all on playing the next game, between those four lines.

"Wanting to win, not bragging about what you have - because I don't think we are like that as South Africans."

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Teams	M	W	L	PTS	NET RR
France	4	3	1	6	3.165
Romania	4	3	1	6	2.230
Austria	4	3	1	6	1.894
Turkey	4	1	3	2	-4.673
Israel	4	0	4	0	-3.138

Finished ECA Mens European Cup