Wallaby comeback too much for SA; Rugby 365

Australia got their World Cup build-up off to a winning start, a sublime second-half comeback gifting them a nailbiting 24-20 win over South Africa.

Outscoring the Springboks by three tries to two, the Wallabies came back from trailing 7-13 at half-time to win their opening Rugby Championship encounter in Brisbane on Saturday.

While the Aussies for long periods struggled to break the Boks' defensive wall, they managed to find holes when it mattered most - twice in the final 10 minutes.

South Africa's out of hand kicking was very poor, to say the least - epitomised by the nightmare start of Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard, who kick his first one directly into touch and hit the upright with his first shot at goal.

The Springboks will also rue the fact that they went into their shells and played a defence game, despite taking a commanding 20-10 lead into the final 10 minutes.

The Wallabies often went to Israel Folau to look for opportunities.

However, the catalyst proved to Matt Giteau - who proved just what a masterstroke it was in bringing him into the team from France.

The Boks physically dominated the collisions and were superior at the breakdown in the first half.

However, after the break the Wallabies got the upper hand in the set pieces - especially in the scrums, which proved crucial in the final wash-up.

The Wallabies suffered a big setback when they lost Will Genie to injury late in the first half.

South Africa's biggest concern will be about a couple of injuries - Victor Matfield (hamstring) in the first half and late in the game Marcel Coetzee (leg).

After a couple of early kicking errors - one each from Handré Pollard and Israel Folau - Will Skelton went offside just outside his 22. However, Pollard's woes continued, as he hit the upright.

The early sparring continued, before Pollard butchered another scoring chance - putting the ball down cold with the tryline begging.

Fifteen minutes into the game Michael Hooper went offside just outside his 22, gifting Pollard another shot at goal. This time he made sure, giving the Springboks a 3-0 lead.

The Boks were dealt a massive blow when Victor Matfield was forced to leave the field in the 18th minute, with an undisclosed injury.

However, Pollard made it 6-0 in the 26th minute, after a massive Bok scrum pulverised the wallaby set piece.

Moments later Quade Cooper had a shot at goal, after Bismarck du Plessis was penalise at a ruck, but the Wallaby flyhalf pushed it wide.

The Springboks suffered another blow when Francois Louw left the field with an injury.

Just past the half-hour mark Matt Giteau produced the moment of magic the wallabies had been looking for, drawing enough defenders to put Adam Ashley-Cooper over for the match's first try.

Within minutes the Boks hit back, Willie le Roux getting his hand through a tackle - his one-handed pass finding lock Eben Etzebeth, the big second row forward going over with two defenders hanging on. Pollard slotted the touchline conversion and Bok launched another furious raid before a turnover stopped the move - the visitors taking a 13-7 lead into the break.

Will Genia, limping badly into the tunnel, did not return to the playing field after the break.

The Boks made a perfect start - Willie le Roux, from a ruck, drawing a couple of defenders, putting Bryan Habana into space and the wing off-loading to young Jesse Kriel. The centre beat four defenders on his way to scoring a try on Test debut. Pollard's conversion made it 20-7 five minutes into the second half.

Cooper had a shot at goal in the 54th minute, after Ruan Pienaar was adjudged to have been offside at a ruck, the Wallaby flyhalf narrowing the gap to 10-20. However, he butchered a sitter, as the game moved into the final quarter.

Five minutes from time the Wallabies made a big play - a powerful scrum allowing Israel Folau to run at a vulnerable Bok defence. Michael Hooper took the pass and bust over for a try that got his team back in the game. Cooper's conversion made it a three-point game - 17-20.

Then came the play of the match - Folau ran the ball back from a 22-metre restart, before the ball went wide to Matt Toomua - who crashed it up. The Boks won a turnover, but made the error of playing it close and conceded a penalty. The Wallabies opted for a line-out and while SA managed to halt the maul, the Wallabies worked the ball through the phases with great precision - before Tevita Kuridrani crashed over. The call went to the TMO, who had several looks, eventually deciding that the ball had touched a blade of grass over the tryline.

Giteau kicked the conversion to make the final score 24-20.

Man of the match: The Springboks initially did a lot of their damage up front - Eben Etzebeth, Bismarck du Plessis, Lodewyk de Jager and Marcell Coetzee all having massive games. Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende were both monsters on defence and threatening with ball in hand. However, the Springboks' most valuable player was No.8 Schalk Burger - not just doing his basics well and adding some real grunt, but making a mountain tackles. Israel Folau breached the Boks' defensive line a few times and also contested very well in the air. Will Genia looked to be regaining his best form, before an injury cut short his game.  James Slipper did some invaluable work on defence, Scott Higginbotham troubled the Bok line-out after Victor Matfield left the field. Michael Hooper, while working hard at the breakdown, did his best work on defence. David Pocock added some grunt and additional value at the breakdown when he came on in the second half. Our award goes to Wallaby playmaker Matt Giteau, who proved his value as a playmaker and proved to be the catalyst the Wallabies had been looking for.

Moment of the match: Eben Etzebeth's try just before the half-time break was crucial in getting the Springboks back on the front foot and Jesse Kriel's try five minutes after the restart were crucial plays. However, you simply can't look past the match-winning effort of Tevita Kuridrani and the dying seconds, while Michael Hooper's score was just as crucial in getting he Wallabies back into striking distance.

Villain of the match: There were a couple of silly off-the-ball incidents, but nothing nasty enough to warrant someone the status of real villain.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries: Ashley-Cooper, Hooper, Kuridrani
Cons: Cooper 2, Giteau
Pen: Cooper

For South Africa:
Tries: Etzebeth, Kriel
Cons: Pollard 2
Pens: Pollard 2

Teams:

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 James Slipper.
Replacement: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 James Horwill, 20 David Pocock, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Drew Mitchell.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lodewyk de Jager, 20 Teboho Mohoje, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)