South Africa celebrate rare away win over Wallabies

South Africa have kept one hand firmly placed on the Tri-Nations trophy and ended any chance the Wallabies had with a 22-19 victory at Subiaco Oval in Perth tonight.

The Springboks entered the match as the inform team, with two recent wins over their opponents, a status well deserved. The same could not be said about Australia, who had lost three in a row before this game after a good lead-up to the Southern tri-nations tournament.

Changes just before kick off for the Wallabies with Adam Ashley-Cooper called in for a bench spot after the withdrawal of selected flyhalf Elton Flatley, who alerted the coaching staff of blurred vision during the warm-up, Clyde Rathbone was moved off the bench and into the centres with Matt Giteau to flyhalf. South Africa went in as named during the week.

The Springboks were first on the board with a dashing 90-metre sideline run by left-winger Bryan Habana, who went over in the third minute after flanker Schalk Burger flung a pass out. George Gregan was the last man in a desperate defence that chased after him only to pull up when it was clear Habana wouldn't be tamed.

Penalties goals followed for both sides, though by half-time the score line flatted the home team down 14-6 after Springboks fullback Percy Montgomery narrowly missed two attempts, his third overall rebounded off the cross-bar.

South African right-winger Breyton Paulse was sent to the bin in the 20th minute for deliberately kicking the ball out and Mat Rogers, who took over with kicking duties after Giteau was slightly concussed, reduced the margin to two with his first penalty attempt.

The Wallabies made most of the running while Paulse was off but couldn't take advantage of the extra man.

Momentum swung back South Africa's way when Paulse returned as they went on the attack and had the Australian defenders mesmerised only for Habana to lose the ball metres from the line. Turinui found open space in the centre and the Wallabies appeared certain to level the scores when he offloaded to left-winger Lote Tuqiri.

Tuqiri, however, didn't have the support he needed and was tackled. With half-time approaching Montgomery received another penalty goal attempt and slotted it through.

The Australians went on the attack early in the second half with fullback Drew Mitchell splitting the defence though tackled short. Penalty goal for Rogers followed in the 45th minute as the Wallabies drew to within a converted try of the lead.

An unexpected drop goal by Montgomery from 40 metres out had many worried but the Wallabies weren't as they regained possession and barged through the middle with Turinui offloading to Rathbone for a much needed try, Rogers converted and it was only one the difference after 51 minutes.

Australia took the lead after 62 minutes, 19-17, through a Rogers penalty goal.

The Wallabies lifted their intensity after the crowd figure, a new ground record in its current configuration, was posted and went agonisingly close to their second try only to turn over possession in the 69th minute and leave a gaping hole for Habana to run through uncontested for his second five-pointer. South Africa held on for the thrilling three-point win, their second from four matches against Australia in Perth.

After the game, Wallabies coach Eddie Jones said, "It was a disappointing result, we had opportunities but turned the ball over, when the game was ours we weren't good enough."

"Test rugby is about converting opportunities plainly and simply. We had opportunities in the first couple of minutes of the game to get some points and we turned the ball over and we paid for it," he said.

South African coach Jake White, "It wasn't the best we've played, to be fair. But then again the sign of a good side is when you don't play the best and you still get a victory. A couple of years back we probably would have lost that fixture."

White praised the Wallabies performance, "They threw everything they could at us, but we got away with the win."

Next week, South Africa take on New Zealand on Saturday night at Dunedin before the Wallabies round out the tournament the following Saturday in Auckland.

SOUTH AFRICA	22
Tries: Bryan Habana 2. Conversions: nil. Penalties: Percy Montgomery 3. Drop Goals: Percy Montgomery
AUSTRALIA	19
Tries: Clyde Rathbone. Conversions: Mat Rogers. Penalties: Mat Rogers 3, Matt Giteau.
@ Subiaco Oval, Perth.   Referee: Alain Roland (Ireland)   Crowd: 43,278 (ground record) Weather: Fine, Night.   Surface: Good.   Half Time: South Africa 14-6.