Australia beat South Africa 42-38 in Perth, finishing with 11 players — Channel NewsAsia
Australia’s rugby team defeated South Africa 42-38 at Perth Stadium in Perth, Australia, on September 27. Australia were down to 11 players late in the match: captain Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph Suaalii and Hunter Paisami received yellow cards during the final 10 minutes.
According to Channel NewsAsia, Australia led 42-17 in the 65th minute, but the reigning world champions from South Africa cut the deficit to four points. Despite having a numerical advantage in the closing stages, the South African team could not level the score.
Australia’s advantage
Australia scored 42 points thanks to a double from centre Len Ikitau, tries by Ben Donaldson, Harry Wilson and Max Jorgensen, as well as 17 points from Lonergan’s kicks.
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South Africa opened the scoring with a try by hooker Johan Grobbelaar after a maul. Edwill van der Merwe later levelled the score at 17-17. Before half-time, Donaldson finished a 14-phase Australian attack, while in the second half Lonergan converted two penalties. Wilson scored a try close to the try line, and Jorgensen collected the ball after an error by Canan Moodie and ran 60 metres to score his team’s fifth try.
South Africa’s comeback attempt
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes to the lineup compared with the team that had previously won the series against New Zealand 3-1. He brought on all eight substitutes in the second half. In the final minutes, Grobbelaar, van der Merwe, Morne van den Berg and Ox Nche scored points for the visitors, while South Africa also received a penalty try.
Australia captain Wilson praised his team’s performance over the first 70 minutes. South Africa captain Andre Esterhuizen said the opponents had capitalised on his team’s mistakes and that discipline let the visitors down, especially in the first half. In October, Australia will play two Test matches against New Zealand.
