Springboks hit back in style with bonus point win

The victory, after leading 12-3 at halftime, was the perfect way to bounce back after last week's defeat in Adelaide. The bonus point victory was not only the Boks' first in Australia in nine years, but in fact their first win in Sydney since 1993.

The Springboks dominated territory and possession and scored two tries and a conversion in the first half, while the Wallabies could only reply with a sole penalty goal. The visitors then added 12 more points in the second stanza through two more five pointers and one conversion, while interestingly, they never attempted one penalty kick at goal for a gutsy and convincing win.

In wet and slippery conditions, the Springboks made a positive start with several promising forays into the Wallabies 22m area.

The Boks got onto the scoreboard in the 11th minute following a huge amount of pressure on the Wallaby try-line, which resulted in three penalties in a row. Lock Eben Etzebeth did well to pass the ball to midfielder Damian de Allende, who went over under the posts, with an easy conversion by No 10 Damian Willemse to give them a 7-0 lead.

A couple of unforced errors gave the Wallabies some much breathing space, especially with lock Matt Philip in the sin bin, and the home side did well to keep the scoreboard quiet during the period when they were down to seven forwards.

The Boks showed more accuracy and composure at the breakdown, but they had very little reward from their early kicking game, with Wallaby fullback Reece Hodge handling the arial bombs particularly well in the tricky conditions.

The Wallabies finally made their way into the Bok half and earned a penalty for a high tackle, which flyhalf Noah Lolesio easy steered through the posts for their only score of the opening half.

Canan Moodie, who became the second youngest Springbok debutant in the professional era at 19 years old, had a good game and scored the Springboks' second try on the stroke on halftime when he gathered another high ball in front of Marika Koroibete to run in for his try out wide, which took the halftime score to 12-3.

The Boks opened the second half with a brilliantly crafted try by flanker Franco Mostert, who went over inside the corner flag following some splendid handling between backs and forwards, with Bok skipper Siya Kolisi featuring prominently.

Although Willemse missed the conversion, the Boks managed to increase their advantage 17-3 with almost a full half of play to come.

However, the Wallabies came back during a determined period and the men in green and gold were this time relieved to escape from a passage of huge Aussie pressure when prop Allan Alaalatoa was penalised for foul play.

The rest of the second half was a huge arm wrestle between the two teams and the Springboks did well to ride out several Wallaby attacks, while they themselves fell short at regular intervals.

Deon Fourie - SA's oldest debutant at 35 years old a few months ago - replaced Kolisi with 10 minutes to go, with the skipper having put in a good shift with ball in hand as well as some crunch tackles at crucial times.

Makazole Mapimpi, denied a certain try by a desperate Koroibete tackle last week in Adelaide, got his try this time when he raced away after Willie le Roux put the speedster in space to score a crucial fourth Bok try in the corner.

However, the wing was yellow carded for his action after the try, which led to some pushing and shoving involving both teams. Utility replacement back Frans Steyn added the extras from the touchline to put the Boks in a commanding position at 24-3 with less than 10 minutes to go.

Replacement flanker Pete Samu scored a try on the hooter in a passage of play that saw Le Roux sin-binned for foul play while the Aussies were on the attack, which meant the Boks finished the game with 13 players.

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