Cape Town: Somewhere on the slopes of Table Mountain, it would be appropriate to place a plaque with the following epitaph.

Australia's Test team, best in the world from 2023 to 2026.

There was a strong sense of finality about how Pat Cummins’ men were bullied and broken by Kagiso Rabada (3-39) and Simon Harmer (6-16) on the final day at Newlands, crushed by 176 runs with a session to spare.

Officially, South Africa are now the world’s top-ranked Test nation, having overtaken Australia at the head of the ICC table. But Australia’s loss of primacy is also a judgement weighed upon by the fact that prior to losing a hard-fought series here, they were also unable to beat Bangladesh at home.

This team has far too many weak spots to be considered the world’s best. After hanging on to win numerous series in the clutch – New Zealand in 2023-24, India in 2024-25 and the Ashes last summer – it has all come apart on the southern edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Many of these players will never get another chance to win in South Africa.

“I dare say this is our last chance to come over here for a lot of us,” Cummins said. “And yeah, it’s one opportunity that we’ve been speaking about for a long time to come and play a big series like this. And we weren’t good enough.

“The reality is we were outplayed for the last couple of Tests. Bowlers could’ve taken more wickets. Batters could have made more runs. So that’s normally where my mind goes. Yeah, it’s frustration. Frustrating.

“We seem to be making a little bit of a trend where we win the first one or two, and it feels like it’s there for us for the taking, and we just don’t quite get it done. Life does go on. But it does gnaw away at you a little bit.”

While it is no disgrace to be beaten by Rabada, who is, alongside Jasprit Bumrah, the finest fast bowler in the world, or to be outfoxed by the excellent Harmer, this was a second consecutive Test handed over all too easily. South Africa were 6-110 on day three in Gqeberha and won by an innings. They were effectively 4-40 starting day four here, and finished up dominant.

Undeniably, these results provide the impetus for further regeneration of the Test team. Cricket Australia’s top brass are in no rush to send any of Cummins, head coach Andrew McDonald or selection chair George Bailey on their way, but there will now be a strong case that the current approach – patching up an ageing team with more senior players – must make way for something more dynamic.

Marnus Labuschagne cannot be chosen for the Perth Test against New Zealand in December. He squandered starts in each of the first two Tests, then looked simply overwhelmed in two Cape Town innings that lasted a combined eight balls: Labuschagne has never before been easier meat for the opposition over the course of a Test match.

Cummins' decision to bowl first on a dry pitch did not work out for him in the same way it cost the likes of Nasser Hussain and Ricky Ponting in the past, while the loss of Steve Smith on match morning robbed the team of experience, skill and tactical nous.

Entering day 15 of the series, it looked for all the world that a grand finish lay in store. The pitch had plenty of rough for Harmer but was otherwise equable, and early morning cloud burned away enough to keep the skies sunny.

Rabada, though, had a new ball in hand. Matt Renshaw was unfortunate, glancing his first ball straight into Ryan Rickelton's gloves, but the Labuschagne stay was three balls of a drowning man. A full toss edged through third, a shorter ball left, then a fuller one slapping into his back leg and giving Richard Kettleborough a straightforward lbw call in his 100th Test. Labuschagne lingered, as he tends to do. The game is up for him.

At two down, Australia’s game was also teetering. The freefall was not long in coming. Travis Head was beaten by several outside off stump from Rabada before snicking straight to gully; Josh Inglis was run out as a consequence of neither him nor Cameron Green wanting to face Harmer; Alex Carey and Cooper Connolly whisked away by Harmer in the space of three balls. To be 6-42 in 17.4 overs, having come to the ground with genuine hope of victory, was quite the punch in the mouth.

Green lasted 110 balls for 27, never looking comfortable, and appearing at times to be shielded from Harmer by Mitchell Starc and then Cummins. No matter: Temba Bavuma swung his spinner around to the other end, and his first ball to Green turned neatly between bat and pad to hit off stump as the number four lurched forward.

Cummins and Lyon fought things out for a time, but defeat was by now inevitable. Harmer applied the final touches, fooling Cummins from around the wicket for an lbw then zipping past Josh Hazlewood to claim 10 wickets for a match in which he comprehensively out-bowled Lyon.

Perspective on this result will be a matter of some conjecture. Head observed before the series that Cummins’ way has always been to remind everyone that cricket is a game: “It’s not do or die,” Head said. “If South Africa play really, really well, and we lose 3-0, that’s OK; it’s not the end of the world.”

But something about the manner of defeat will cause anger in a few quarters. Players persisted with for too long, mistakes repeated, and a lack of backbone shown at moments of great import. Australia were not just defeated in the final two Tests. When it mattered, they were dismembered.

The Proteas, meanwhile, enjoyed a lap of honour, as a “CHAMPIONS” mock-up was set up on the field. In Test cricket, theat title no longer applies to Australia.

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