Brisbane: South Africa won their first match in Australia in four years and kept the Wallabies winless in the Rugby Championship with a record 38-12 victory on Saturday.
The Springboks won for the first time in nine visits to Brisbane in 42 years with a four tries-to-nil thrashing to remain unbeaten in the southern hemisphere series along with the All Blacks, who they face in Auckland next weekend.
It was the biggest win by the Springboks in Australia and they totted up more points than in their last 32-25 win over the Wallabies in Australia in 2009.
South Africa led 16-6 at half-time but broke the game wide open in the second half with three tries in eight minutes to keep Ewen McKenzie without a win in three Tests as coach of the Wallabies.
Forward Coenie Oosthuizen, skipper Jean de Villiers, fullback Zane Kirchner and winger Willie Le Roux scored tries, with Morne Steyn kicking three conversions and four penalties.
The Wallabies defence disintegrated in the second half in the face of a disciplined South African assault and dominant scrum and the home side finished without a try in another deeply disappointing display by the Australians, who have now lost five of their six Tests this year.
It was a triumph for coach Heynecke Meyer, who wildly cheered his team’s tries from the coach’s box, after the Springboks’ back-to-back wins over Argentina kept the pressure on World Cup champions New Zealand.
Replacement forward Oosthuizen gave the Springboks a flying start when he plunged over for a converted try off the television match official in the sixth minute after a prodigious linekick by Steyn from inside his own half.
But South Africa went a man down when openside flanker Willem Alberts was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away after he deliberately knocked down Australia’s ball.
Christian Lealiifano kicked the penalty for the Wallabies to trail 7-3 in the eighth minute.
But the Springboks bustled their opponents into mistakes with uncompromising defence and Steyn kicked a penalty to widen the gap to 10-3.
The Wallabies had their chances but a lack of composure inside South Africa’s quarter cost them.
Lealiifano landed his second penalty but Steyn kicked two more penalties for the Springboks to lead 16-6 at half-time.
The Wallabies had the Springboks under pressure straight after the resumption but had to settle for a Lealiifano penalty to trail by seven points.
The Springboks continued to dominate the scrum and Michael Hooper was sin-binned for a lifting tackle on winger Bryan Habana, leaving the Wallabies with 14 men 10 minutes into the second half.
Steyn restored the 10-point advantage with his fourth penalty from the Hooper incident.
Francois Louw was penalised for hitting Adam Ashley-Cooper without the ball and Lealiifano kicked his fourth penalty as the Wallabies struggled to find a way throughout the disciplined South African defence.
The Springboks capitalised after a Habana break and kick ahead, with de Villiers surging through a gap to score their second try on the hour and open up a 12-point lead. It got worse for the Wallabies with two tries in two minutes through Kirchner and Le Roux as the Springboks finished full of running.
