Wallabies survive four yellow cards to beat Springboks 42–38 in Perth
Australia built a 25-point lead before four players were sent to the sin bin. South Africa scored three late tries, but the Wallabies held on to reclaim the Mandela Challenge Plate.
The Wallabies beat world champion South Africa 42–38 in Perth on Sunday after four Australian players received yellow cards and the Springboks cut a 25-point deficit to four. Australia had led 42–17 before the late comeback. The result returned the Mandela Challenge Plate to Australia for the first time since 2022.
Captain Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Hunter Paisami were sent to the sin bin in the closing stages, leaving Australia with 11 players on the field. South Africa scored three late tries, but the Wallabies held on at Optus Stadium. ABC News Australia reported a crowd of 54,678 for a match whose final minutes were shaped by both the Springboks’ scoring and Australia’s mounting disciplinary losses.
How Australia built its lead
South Africa went ahead through a Handré Pollard penalty and an early try by Johan Grobbelaar. Australia responded through Len Ikitau, who scored twice in the first half. Rugby Australia’s match account says Suaalii won an aerial contest in the move that led to Ikitau’s second try, giving the Wallabies a lead after the teams had traded scores.
Edwill van der Merwe scored South Africa’s second try, but Ben Donaldson crossed late in the half after a sustained Australian attack. The Wallabies took a 24–17 lead into the break. Donaldson had been moved to fly half after Carter Gordon broke his leg against Argentina, according to the Guardian’s match report, making his first-half score part of a reshaped Australian backline.
Lonergan added two penalty goals after half-time as Australia stretched the margin. Wilson then scored from close range, and Max Jorgensen capitalised on a loose South African pass to run in Australia’s fifth try. Rugby Australia’s account records the lead reaching 42–17 before the closing stages. The size of that advantage became decisive when Australia began losing players to yellow cards.
Four cards and a late comeback
Wilson was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Malcolm Marx in the 69th minute, ABC News Australia reported. South Africa was then awarded a penalty try after an infringement by Lonergan, who was also sent to the bin. The score moved to 42–24, and Australia’s numerical disadvantage grew when Suaalii received a yellow card for an offside play.
Morné van den Berg scored a converted try for South Africa. Australia then appeared to answer when Tom Wright intercepted a pass and crossed the line, but the try was disallowed after officials ruled that Paisami had made contact with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s head in an earlier tackle. Paisami received the fourth Australian yellow card, reducing the Wallabies to 11 players.
Ox Nché scored a converted try in the 78th minute to bring the Springboks within four points. Rugby Australia reported that Wilson and Lonergan returned to the field before the end and that a South African obstruction error ended the visitors’ final attempt to attack. Australia’s earlier scoring had given it just enough room to withstand the three late tries.
“It was a crazy last 10 minutes,” Wilson told the Nine Network after the match, in remarks reported by ABC News Australia. He said Australia had carried out its game plan over the first 70 minutes and praised his teammates’ work in the physical contest. His account reflects how sharply the match changed: Australia had established control on the scoreboard before the cards opened a route back for South Africa.
What the result means now
The win gave Australia the Mandela Challenge Plate for the first time since 2022, according to Rugby Australia. ABC News Australia reported that 2022 was also the previous occasion on which the Wallabies had beaten the Springboks on Australian soil. The result came under new coach Les Kiss, whose unbeaten start continued, according to Rugby Australia and the Guardian.
South Africa arrived after a series win over New Zealand. The Guardian reported that coach Rassie Erasmus made 14 changes from the side that won that series, including the selection of 10 Rugby World Cup winners. The changes form part of the match context, although the result alone cannot establish what effect the selection decisions had on the four-point defeat.
Australia’s next scheduled Tests are against New Zealand, with the first Bledisloe Cup match in Auckland on October 10 and the return in Sydney on October 17, according to ABC News Australia. For more on the selection decisions before the Perth match, see the Wallabies’ squad changes for the Springboks Test.
Sources and context
- Wallabies reduced to 11 players in chaotic 42-38 upset win over SpringboksABC News Australia
- 11-man Wallabies deliver famous victory over world champion Springboks in dramatic Perth thrillerRugby Australia
- Wallabies hold off world champion Springboks in chaotic Test for the agesThe Guardian
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