South Africa 44 Australia 31:Second-half tries from Frans Steyn and JP Pietersen helped South Africa come from behind to end a four-match losing streak with victory over Australia in Pretoria.
The game, which marked the 100th cap of veteran lock and vice-captain Victor Matfield on his home ground Loftus Versfeld, saw the Springboks fall behind 14-0 inside five minutes after converted tries by Will Genia and James O’Connor.
Juan Smith and Gurthro Steenkamp then cut the lead either side of a second O’Connor effort, before Dean Mumm and Pierre Spies exchanged tries to hand the visitors a 28-24 half-time lead.
But Robbie Deans’ side could only manage three points after the break as Racing Metro full-back Steyn and winger Pietersen crossed to seal a hard-fought win. With New Zealand having already clinched the Tri Nations title last week, the best both sides could aim for was second place in the remaining games.
The Wallabies should have been ahead inside the opening two minutes when good work from their backs set up Drew Mitchell, who looked to have scored on the left corner, only to be denied by the television official. But it mattered little as Genia then picked up at the base of a ruck and sold a dummy to Flip van der Merwe and Matfield before crossing.
After Matt Giteau converted, the lead was extended after some exceptional manoeuvring by Kurtley Beale in his own half, which saw the full-back ghost his way past at least five Springbok defenders. He then found Elsom and picked out O’Connor for his fifth Test try.
Another Giteau conversion followed, but the hosts finally managed to get on the board after nine minutes when Francois Hougaard’s switched pass let Smith run in under the posts. Morne Steyn added the extras, although, Bryan Habana did his side little favour by gifting the advantage back to the tourists — the Stormers winger made a mess of trying to take a high ball from the kick-off, allowing O’Connor in.
Giteau made it three out of three to take the score to 21-7.
A remarkable fifth try of the game came in the 14th minute when captain John Smit cleverly chose to set up a line-out rather than take the points and he was rewarded when Matfield’s powerful shift allowed Steenkamp to barge his way over - with Morne Steyn converting.
A 50-yard penalty from the Springbok number 10 then cut the deficit even further and when Beale tried to do the same thing and missed, there was a sense from the home crowd that their luck was about to change. However, it was again not to be — Mumm landing the bonus-point try for his side after 26 minutes.
Mitchell’s kick in-field from the left put Habana under pressure for the second time and the ensuing tap-and-go penalty led to the Waratahs lock powering his way over.
Nine minutes before the break Hougaard latched onto a pop pass, slipped through a gap and then found Spies who went over in the corner. Morne Steyn reduced the deficit to four to complete a rare 52-point half in international rugby.
The Bulls fly-half and Giteau exchanged penalties after the restart, before Frans Steyn, returning to the side for the first time since June, gave the hosts the lead for the first time when he dived in after several phases of build-up play by the forwards.
Morne Steyn completed a tough conversion putting Peter de Villiers’ team three points ahead. They had two chances to extend the lead, but were kept out by a resilient visiting defence, before an excellent last-ditch tackle from Hougaard on Elsom prevented them falling behind again.
Frans Steyn, noted for his booming right boot, landed a penalty from his own half to stretch the lead to six with 11 minutes to play. And Pietersen added a late score, converted by Butch James, as the world champions wrapped out the win.