The Boks fought back bravely at the end, but came up just short after allowing the Wallabies to race into a strong position.
André Esterhuizen runs with the ball in the Test against the Wallabies. Picture: Antony Dickson/Gallo Images
The Australian Wallabies beat the South African Springboks 42-38 in a thrilling one-off Test in Perth on Sunday.
Rassie Erasmus’ Boks were much changed from their last Test, with several fringe players selected. They started well enough but the visitors trailed 24-17 at half-time and battled to get into the game in the second period.
The Australians raced into a 42-17 lead with around 15 minutes remaining thanks to some clinical handling and phase play, with the Boks making errors and not able to get any momentum. The bench-warmers also failed to ignite the side.
Then, in a flash, the Wallabies lost three men, and later a fourth, to the sin bin, and the Boks scored 21 unanswered points to give the Wallabies a big scare.
Out of the blue the Boks’ scrum started firing, winning several penalties, while the other bench-sitters also contributed to upping the tempo and asking all sorts of questions.
The Wallabies’ five tries came before the 65th minute as they opened a huge lead.
The Boks’ early tries came from Johan Grobbelaar and Edwill van der Merwe, before a penalty try and other five-pointers, all converted, by Morne van den Berg and Ox Nche, left the Boks four short of the Australians.
The match was full of action and incident, with a few tries chalked off by the TMO and officials, for head contact in the case of the Wallabies, and the Boks, twice, for losing the ball over the line in contact.
Below the teams is The Citizen’s coverage of Sunday’s match in Perth.
TEAMS
WALLABIES – 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Angus Bell. Bench: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Aidan Ross, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lachlan Shaw, 20 Tom Hooper, 21 Carlo Tizzano, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Harry Potter.
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 André Esterhuizen (c), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Bench: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.
LIVE UPDATES – Wallabies v Springboks in Perth
Live updates of the Test on Sunday will appear below. For latest posts please refresh.
