Somebody once said confusion was good because it meant change was taking place. To explain the statement further, they likened the situation to what one's living room might look like during spring-cleaning.
If that is the case, then the sofas, plasma screens and coffee tables at the SA Rugby Union (Saru) aren't quite where they should be, going into 2009.
With the Webb Ellis Trophy safely in Newlands, the mandarins at Saru chose to declare the past year as the year of transformation.
One doesn't know if it was deliberate or not, but the goodwill of winning the 2007 World Cup was used to usher in the revolution.
First they appointed the country's first black coach in former SA Under-21 mentor Peter de Villiers, when the obvious choice was the Blue Bulls' Heyneke Meyer.
Unlike his politically correct predecessors, De Villiers has spoken his mind, mostly to hilarious, not to mention confusing, effect, and sometimes ill-advisedly. Expressions like "Talk is cheap and money buys whisky" have become part of rugby folklore.
In a year in which the world champions' form was patchy due to their rebuilding under him, De Villiers's greatest achievements were winning in New Zealand for the first time in a decade; changing the Boks' playing style; and enforcing transformation.
The win in Dunedin did a lot of contradictory things for local rugby. In light of the Boks finishing last in the Tri-Nations, at first it seemed to signify a false dawn. But it also emphasised that De Villiers came with none of the psychological baggage previous coaches took with them to Australia and New Zealand.
De Villiers's decision to change a playing style that won the Boks the World Cup caused the biggest uproar in rugby circles, especially when they couldn't beat Australia and New Zealand with it.
SA rugby has always been aimed at winning, not aesthetics. De Villiers's attempt at a more expansive game has been seen as pandering to the latter.
On the transformation front, De Villiers laid his marker by selecting seven players of colour to start in his first test match, the minimum being five for the rest of the season. The impressive bit about that was how it was received. In a country where skin colour can be held responsible for whether players play badly or not, it was refreshing to see the team being collectively blamed for losses.
The biggest shock to the system for the rugby public was to hear a Springbok rugby player speak against the jersey for the first time since the 1980s.
Luke Watson's comments about the Bok jersey making him want to vomit for what it represented was a case of history repeating itself in that his father Cheeky had taken a similar stance in the 1980s.
There are a lot of views on Luke Watson's stand, but the one that shines through is that he is a young man with the future at his feet, yet he chooses to live his life in the past.
De Villiers further showed his willingness to stay true to himself by undertaking the tour of Europe without a recognised flyhalf, the first time it has happened with a Springbok team.
He also changed his captain, John Smit, from hooker to tighthead prop. Having appointed him as an agent of change, Saru let De Villiers have his head last year.
But the time for risking all will come to an end in 2008, as the year of the revolution gives way to the year of delivery.
Nobody at Saru will go on the record on this, but De Villiers apparently has until the British and Irish Lions tour in June to prove that he is the man to take SA rugby to the 2011 World Cup.
Spring-cleaning operations inevitably come to an end, and when that happens, Saru will want their team back in its traditional position in world rugby - the top.
- Simnikiwe Xabanisa is rugby writer for the Sunday Times
