What a weekend of international rugby that was.
From the thrillers in Dunedin and Pretoria, to a youthful France's upset win in Argentina, and even Samoa's comeback on home soil against Italy, there was almost too much rugby to keep up with as the north and south came together for the first time since the World Cup.
Read on as we review some of the key talking points from the weekend's action.
SOUTH AFRICA OUTLAST IRELAND - BUT IS THE TROLLING REALLY NECESSARY?
The build-up to Saturday's clash in Pretoria had set the stage for a fiery encounter, as the Springboks looked for revenge on the only nation to defeat them at last year's global showpiece.
With 12 players returning from the starting side that lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy, and the fact that they were playing in front of rabid Loftus Versfeld, the Boks started heavy favourites against an Ireland team without the retired Jonny Sexton and Olympics-bound Hugo Keenan.
South Africa charged out of the blocks with a sensational try finished by Kurt-Lee Arendse and played from in front for the rest of the match as a result. While it was far from the perfect performance, the hosts later all but iced the win with a penalty try from a swashbuckling five-metre scrum that had Ireland backpedalling at a serious rate.
The tourists, meanwhile, could feel aggrieved at several 50/50 calls, not least of which was the TMO decision to overturn James Lowe's 58th minute score that would have brought Ireland back level at 13-all, with a sideline conversion to follow.
While Ronan Kelleher did have a knee on the ground when he hooked the ball back for the turnover, the hooker was the victim of a neck roll from Willie le Roux, and centre Bundee Aki had probably done enough to win a penalty for holding on beforehand.
But the biggest thing was that all three of these offences happened right in front of referee Luke Pearce, who had deemed them all fair game before Lowe took off down the touchline, beat two defenders and ran away to score.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell also lamented another call against Lowe in the lead-up to Cheslin Kolbe's try, despite lauding the Springboks winger's exceptional chase.
In the end, it was a chaotic finish to the Test as three tries were scored inside the final 10 minutes, with the hosts' rampaging scrum proving to be the defining score.
What followed at fulltime will however have left an unsavoury taste in the mouth for some as The Cranberries' "Zombie" was played over the loudspeaker at Loftus Versfeld.
The song became an anthem for Ireland at the World Cup last year, tens of thousands of Irish supporters belting it out at the Stade de France after the win over Scotland and the quarterfinal defeat by the All Blacks in what was one of the lasting memories of a fantastic tournament.
So when on Saturday night "Zombie, Zombie, Zombie" was replaced by "Rassie, Rassie, Rassie" you had to wonder whether it was really appropriate, or at the very least necessary, given what that tune and the band mean to the Irish people.
Erasmus is deservedly revered in the Republic, having ascended to almost god-like status after back-to-back World Cup wins. But surely there is a better way SA Rugby -- or at least those responsible for the stadium music -- can celebrate the master coach than to encourage this level of trolling. The opposite viewpoint is that such a move only adds to rivalry, and that is no bad thing for rugby as it competes globally for eyeballs and bank accounts.
It certainly won't have been lost on the Irish players, who will be out to seek revenge and square the series in Durban this weekend.
ENGLAND WILL LAMENT LOST OPPORTUNITY
While England will be disappointed having come tantalisingly close to just their third ever win in New Zealand, there are plenty of positives for Steve Borthwick's side, who are still developing both as individuals and as a team.
The All Blacks dominated the ball in the early stages, but England didn't crumble. The tourists defended well and were only undone by a beautiful cross-field kick from Damian McKenzie for the first try, and some Stephen Perofeta magic for the second.
With the game coming down to such fine margins, Marcus Smith will look back at the three kicks he missed that could have been the difference. That's not to take away from him impact on the game. He put Immanuel Feyi-Waboso through for his side's second try and was a headache for the All Blacks' defence.
However, there's no doubt this was England's best chance to earn a famous victory and there will be a tinge of regret in camp. New Zealand will be better at Eden Park next week and the visitors will have to up their game if they're to be as competitive as they were in Dunedin.
One English player who did emerge from the Forsyth Barr Stadium clash with his reputation considerably enhanced was Chandler Cunningham-South. The England back-rower, who was returning to the country where he spent a chunk of his childhood, enjoyed an exceptional Test as he carried with authority, and played leading roles in the lead-up to the tourists' two tries.
Cunningham-South was also busy on the defensive side of the ball, but it was his work with ball in hand that will have most pleased Borthwick. The key now for the 21-year-old will be to build up his engine to cope with the speed and intensity of Test rugby for a little longer than the 57 minutes he was on the pitch in Dunedin.
D-MAC TAKES OWNERSHIP OF BIG ERROR, BUT BACKS STADIUM SHOT CLOCK CALLS
Things almost got very ugly for Damian McKenzie at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.
With the All Blacks holding a narrow one-point lead, McKenzie had the opportunity to extend his side's buffer beyond a penalty goal when he lined up a shot of his own with just a few minutes to play.
But as the All Blacks No. 10 prepared to move in for his attempt, Georgian referee Niko Amashkueli blew his whistle to rule that McKenzie had exceeded the 60-second time limit for the shot.
Amashkueli could also be heard giving McKenzie the instructions of "20 seconds", "10 seconds" and finally "let's go" over the broadcast, so it wasn't as if the No. 10 wasn't aware he was fast running out of time.
To his credit, McKenzie accepted full responsibility for the error, revealing the referee had even warned him on his previous penalty goal.
"I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, it's completely on my shoulders," McKenzie said.
"I have got to sort that out around my process, and speed things up, and knowing that once the penalty is blown I have got 60 seconds to kick the kick.
"There was a lot of relief when we got that final penalty. It would have been disastrous if we had lost from a kick, three points. It is something I have to look at. But completely on my shoulders. I need to own that... he did rush me in my last, previous, kick and said I need to speed up.
"I kind of felt I didn't take too long with my last kick and he did say something when I backing my kick, so I just went to go forward and it was too late."
Fortunately for McKenzie, England could not make the most of the late reprieve even after they were awarded a scrum penalty; George Furbank pinged for an extra roll as Tupou Vaa'i looked to get over the ball for a pilfer.
The incident will however have done little to convince the wider New Zealand public that McKenzie is the man to steer the All Blacks ship moving forward, as Richie Mo'unga continues to be linked with an early release from his Japanese contract.
That won't happen anytime this year, though, meaning All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has to stick with McKenzie or consider a return to fly-half for Beauden Barrett.
SCHMIDT'S INFLUENCE, DETAIL ALREADY EVIDENT IN WALLABIES
It hasn't taken long for Joe Schmidt to put his stamp on the Wallabies, who started 2024 with a 25-16 win over Wales in Sydney.
While the match was delivered only a few attacking highlights aside from Tom Wright's breathtaking second-half score, and lacked the speed and intensity of the clashes in Dunedin and Pretoria, Australia did threaten the Welsh defensive line with a couple of classic Schmidt starter plays.
The first came from a lineout in the 10th minute as the Wallabies moved the ball quickly to Noah Lolesio, who cut out two forward runners and hit Hunter Paisami, the centre digging deep into the line before turning his hips and offloading out the back behind decoy Josh Flook and onto Andrew Kellaway. The winger galloped into open country only to be ankle-tapped, before offloading to Wright who took the ball up towards Wales' 22.
Then, deep into the second half, Wallabies No. 8 Rob Valetini peeled off the back of a lineout and took the throw beyond the 15, the back-rower's offload to an unmarked Tate McDermott back on the inside only just knocked intercepted by Wales captain Dewi Lake, who was able to then scramble the ball on the ground.
While they delivered mixed results, the two plays were vast improvements on what Eddie Jones attempted to impart on Australia before he packed it all in and headed for Japan.