Rugby Championship 2021: Wallabies upset South Africa for a second time

The Wallabies proved last week’s upset was no fluke by running out winners against world champions South Africa once again on Saturday.

The Wallabies won both their Rugby Championship games against South Africa. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The Wallabies’ love affair with Brisbane continued on Saturday night, with Australia recording a 10th successive Suncorp Stadium win in inflicting a second straight defeat on world champions South Africa.

Less than a week after beating the Springboks 28-26 on the Gold Coast, the Wallabies repeated the dose with a 30-17 bonus-point victory in front of almost 40,000 fans to win the Nelson Mandela Plate and keep their faint Rugby Championship hopes alive.

Braces to Len Ikitau and Marika Koroibete ensured the Wallabies scored four tries in a Test against South Africa for the first time since 2011.

Winger Koroibete’s tries in the 62nd and 68th minutes broke the game open after the Wallabies clung to an 18-17 lead.

Koroibete’s first try was set up by a superb no-look pass from prop Taniela Tupou, who was superb in his 78 minutes on the field in a display that further proved he should be a permanent starter for the Wallabies.

Flyhalf Quade Cooper, who was man-of-the match last weekend, again produced a controlled performance in his second Test back after an absence of four years, much to the delight of Wallabies coach Dave Rennie.

“Quade’s been really disciplined,” Rennie said.

“He’s got a real clear understanding of what we’re trying to put on the park.

“He’s certainly getting us around the park, and I was really happy with the way he defended in the second half.

“He’s contributing in lots of ways and his experience is invaluable. It’s fantastic for him (that) he backed up last week. It wasn’t a one off.”

Skipper Michael Hooper, leading the Wallabies for a record 60th time, was a constant menace in another memorable display.

No man has captained the Wallabies on more occasions than Hooper. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Hooper said the Wallabies lifted whenever they played at Suncorp Stadium.

“The crowd’s loud, they’re vocal, (there is) a lot of gold in the crowd,” Hooper said.

“We love playing up here and we’re confident when we turn up at this ground.”

Rennie said performances such as Saturday night’s would help the team muster support from the Australian public.

“We want to get the country behind us and you’ve got to give them performances to make them proud of, and hopefully we’ve made a start on that,” Rennie said.

“It gives us belief. We’ve always felt the game that we’re trying to play is the right type of game for our group, and it’s great to get a couple of results.”

South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber said the Wallabies were “brilliant”.

“Sorry is all we can say,” Nienaber said.

“(It was) not a performance that was worthy enough for a Springbok jersey.’

The Wallabies dominated early, making the most of the sin-binning of South Africa’s halfback Faf de Klerk for a professional foul on rival half Nic White to score two tries – both from Ikitau – while the Springboks were reduced to 14 men.

But the Springboks remained calm, with Australia’s momentum halted by a serious arm injury to fullback Tom Banks and the 33rd-minute sin-binning of flanker Lachie Swinton for high contact when making a tackle on South Africa’s No. 8 Duane Vermeulen.

Rennie said Swinton had “to be better” with his tackling technique.

By half-time the Wallabies’ lead had been cut to three points thanks to a perfect first-half goal-kicking display from Pollard.

Koroibete scored two tries in the second half to put the result beyond doubt. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

And with Swinton still off the field, South Africa took the lead early in the second half via a try from outside centre Lukhanyo Am, who was first to a deft grubber kick from de Klerk.

However, Australia regained the lead in the 51st minute through a Cooper penalty, before Koroibete’s two tries in the final 20 minutes sealed the hosts’ win.

South Africa finished the match with 14 men on the field after the late sin-binning of Jasper Wiese.

“I thought we were clinical,” Rennie said.