11-man Australia beat South Africa in thrilling test

Monday, 28 September 2026 03:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Australia were reduced to 11 men but dug in for an extraordinary win against a much-changed South Africa side as they beat the world champions 42-38 in Perth.

The Wallabies excelled with some vibrant attacking rugby, scoring five tries against the back-to-back World Cup winners to lead by 25 points with 16 minutes left.

But then a manic spell of four yellow cards in nine minutes left the hosts overrun, with South Africa mounting a comeback that ultimately fell just short.

The visitors made 13 changes after beating New Zealand in Baltimore but still fielded a strong starting XV, which boasted 240 caps in the second row alone.

At one stage, Australia was way ahead of South Africa with score-line reading 42-17.

Australia Captain Harry Wilson was then sin-binned and South Africa finally got their first score of the second half with a penalty try, with Ryan Lonergan yellow carded as well.

The Wallabies were down to 13 and a crossfield kick found Van der Merwe in the corner but the wing dropped the ball before he could ground it.

Australia wing Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i was then sin-binned as well to leave Australia three men down and replacement scrum-half Morne van den Berg scrambled in to cut the lead to 11 points.

Remarkably Australia then appeared to have scored again as Tom Wright intercepted a pass to run in - only for the try to be ruled out and Hunter Paisami shown a fourth yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the build-up.

South Africa had so much space and scored again through Ox Nche to cut the lead to four but time ran out.