The reigning back-to-back World Cup Champion Springboks have proved too strong for the Wallabies in front of 52,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium to kick off The 2024 Flight Centre Rugby Championship.
The visitors ran out 33-7 winners in a display that demonstrated the attributes that have taken South Africa to consecutive Rugby World Cup titles.
The rebuilding Wallabies fought bravely in defence against some monumental possession and territory numbers, especially in the first half, however, the 'Boks showed their class to take an impressive win in the opening Test of this year's Rugby Championship.
The home side will be hoping to improve for the second and final Test against the Springboks next Saturday in Perth.
It was all South Africa in the first half as the world champions delivered a masterclass to go up 21-0 at the break, with a double to Kurt-Lee Arendse delivering a statement for their first win at Suncorp since 2013.
“The scoreline is the scoreline but the performance is what we really need to focus on and try to get a number of the elements [to be] more competitive," Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said.
“I thought most of the collision areas we struggled… They don’t give you a lot of breathing space, so it was hard to find oxygen in the first half, particularly when we conceded eight or nine penalties and they didn’t.
“It just made it very tough work getting out of our half and when we did, we kicked the ball away a couple of times without kicking it accurately."
The Springboks scored first from a lineout where they transferred from the first jumper to a second jumper at the front of the lineout before Siya Kolisi barged over at the back of the maul.
It set up a dominant first half as they controlled the contest against an Australian side working hard in defence but struggling with discipline.
Willie Le Roux had a golden opportunity to extend the lead when he turned down a two-man overlap but was taken down by 2025 Waratahs recruit Andrew Kellaway as the Wallabies scramble defence stood up.
They didn’t have to wait long as Pieter-Steph du Toit crashed over the line in the 24th minute. The first half went from bad to worse when Kellaway was yellow-carded for a lifting tackle on Cobus Reinach.
Minutes later, Arendse sliced through the defence to score beside the posts and establish the half-time 21-0 margin.
The Australians came out in the second half and kept pressing the South African line through Dylan Pietsch and Rob Valetini.
However, every attack was met by an impenetrable green wall. It allowed the Springboks to work their way back down the field slowly and replacement Kwagga Smith crashed over to extend the lead.
Arendse followed him over two minutes later to seal the win. A yellow card to Malcolm Marx for collecting Valetini in the head followed by another to Marco van Staden for repeated infringements opened the game up for the Wallabies late.
The home side spread the ball to the space out wide, and Hunter Paisami crossed untouched on the left edge to please the home fans.
Wallabies 7 (Tries: Paisami, Conversions: Lynagh) defeated by South Africa 33 (Tries: Kolisi, du Toit, Arendse 2, Smith, Conversions: Fenberg-Mngomezulu 4)
- Wallabies 7 defeated by South Africa 33, Saturday August 10 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
- Wallabies v South Africa, 5:45pm AWST, Saturday August 17 at Optus Stadium, Perth
- Wallabies v Argentina, 8:00 am AEST, Sunday September 1 at Estadio Uno, La Plata
- Wallabies v Argentina, 5:00 am AEST, Sunday September 8 at Estadio Colon, Santa Fe
- Wallabies v New Zealand, 3:45pm AEST, Saturday September 21 at Accor Stadium, Sydney
- Wallabies v New Zealand, 5:05pm AEST, Saturday September 28 at Sky Stadium, Wellington
- Wallabies 25 defeated Wales 16, Saturday July 6 at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
- Wallabies 36 defeated Wales 28 on Saturday July 13 at AAMI Park, Melbourne
- Wallabies 40 defeated Georgia 29 on Saturday July 20 at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
- Wallabies v England, 2:10am AEDT, Sunday November 10, Twickenham, London
- Wallabies v Wales, 3:10am AEDT, Monday November 18, Principality Stadium, Cardiff
- Wallabies v Scotland, 12:40am AEDT, Monday November 25, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
- Wallabies v Ireland, 2:10am, Sunday December 1, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Tickets to the Wallabies 2024 Home Tests are available to purchase here.
