Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed beating the All Blacks in Wellington was one of the team's main goals before the season started.
The Boks claimed a historic 36-34 victory on Saturday, their first in New Zealand since 2009, and their first over the All Blacks since 2014.
The All Blacks raced out to a 12-0 lead early in the match before the Boks fought back to take the lead before halftime, which they never surrendered.
In total, the All Blacks outscored South Africa six tries to five, but Beauden Barrett had an off night with the boot - kicking two from six - while South African pivot Handre Pollard was five from six.
What made the victory more impressive was the fact that South Africa only had 25 per cent possession, and they made 235 tackles to the All Blacks' 61.
Erasmus described it as the best win as of his coaching career.
"We could have lost this game in the last minute, so we were a bit lucky," said Erasmus. "But we are very relieved and very proud to beat New Zealand in New Zealand.
"Our big thing was and all respect to New Zealand when we started the planning we said one way of coming back [from a couple of poor seasons] was beating New Zealand in New Zealand and that was months ago.
"When we lost those two games in a row, you do lose some belief, but we always targeted this game to turn things around and be real contenders at the World Cup.
"We could have lost it in the last second, but this gives us a lot of belief, which is a big compliment to New Zealand because nobody beats them here. We are privileged to be one of those teams."
Despite the win, Erasmus isn't getting carried away as he knows the Boks still have plenty to improve on.
"There's no way we can get ahead of ourselves," he added. "This was one win with a bit of luck against the best team in the world.
"We are number six or seven [in the world rankings]. We still have to catch up to New Zealand, Australia and England. There are so many teams ahead of us, there is no way we can get ahead of ourselves.
"We are far off [the All Blacks] and got a lot of work to do. We are definitely not where we want to be, and the players and I know it. We have a lot of hard work to do."
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was very quick to praise South Africa for the win.
"Congratulations to South Africa. They played particularly well and took all the chances that were there," he said.
"We're obviously disappointed, and there are areas we have to work on.
"Anytime you lose it hurts. The dressing room is sombre, very quiet. But it's important we learn something, otherwise, it's a waste of time."
The All Blacks will get their chance at revenge on October 6 when the two teams clash against in Pretoria.
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