Wallabies end 62-year drought with miraculous comeback win over Springboks
If this wasn't the Wallabies' greatest ever victory, it was certainly their most improbable after Joe Schmidt's revitalised outfit recovered from 22-0 down in Johannesburg.
With skipper Harry Wilson, fellow back-rower Fraser McReight, fullback Tom Wright and veteran flyhalf James O'Connor starring, the Wallabies piled on four unanswered second-half tries to record Australia's first victory over the Springboks at altitude since 1963.
The stirring success came at a cost, though, with Wilson escorted off with a possible ACL knee injury after touching down for his second try and winger Dylan Pietsch sustaining a suspected broken jaw.
Minutes after crossing for Australia's opening try, Pietsch came off second best in a collision with Springboks captain Siya Kolisi.
But the Wallabies are otherwise savouring a truly incredible win at Ellis Park.
The two-time defending world champion Springboks looked set to consign Australia's last-up victory over the British and Irish Lions to a distant memory when they raced out to their 22-0 lead inside 18 minutes.
Schmidt described the Wallabies' start as 'horrendous' and said relief was his over-riding emotion in the immediate aftermath to a pulsating encounter.
'I'm just blown away a little bit by the way they stayed in the game,' he said.
'Because at 22-0 down after 20 minutes, it would be easy to fall out of the game.
'I know how much it means to them. They're incredibly proud of the gold jersey that they wear and the bond that they're forming between themselves.'
In a lightning start, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse bagged South Africa's opening try after just 94 seconds.
Initially unable to cope with the home team's awesome skill and firepower, the Wallabies conceded a second when centre Andre Esterhuizen completed the slickest of raids in the 12th minute.
Kolisi palmed off McReight at the back of a ruck to continue the better-than-a-point-a-minute scoring blitz with South Africa's third try before the Wallabies finally found their second wind.
Pietsch put Australia on the board after 28 minutes when he finished off some nice lead-up work from O'Connor and centre Len Ikitau, who handled twice in the movement.
Pietsch lasted only two more minutes before his head caught the shoulder of Kolisi while trying to stop South Africa's rampaging No.8.
His side trailing 22-5 at the break, Schmidt felt the Wallabies could still win.
'We talked mostly about the second 20 (minutes),' he told Stan Sport.
'We won the second 5-0, and we said, 'Well, if we can win the second 5-0, we can win the next 5-0 and then we're in the game.
'And once we got into the game, I just felt that we grew in confidence.'
Needing something special, Angus Bell delivered first for the Wallabies, the replacement prop's deft short putting Wilson over two minutes into the second half.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii then intercepted a cut-out pass from Springboks flyhalf Manie Libbok to suddenly pull the score back to 22-19.
Then the unthinkable happened.
The Wallabies hit the lead for the first time when Wright broke free from inside his own half to put Wilson over for his second try to give the Wallabies a shock lead.
Playing his first Test since 2022 and a record-breaking 17 years after debuting, O'Connor found Max Jorgensen with a beautiful left-to-right long ball before the winger did the rest in another magical long-range strike for Australia.
Turning defence into scintillating attack, Wright sped 80 metres to score the game sealer with five minutes remaining, leaving South African fans silently shell-shocked.
Schmidt said it was important for the Wallabies to celebrate the remarkable win before shifting focus to next week's second Rugby Championship clash with the Boks in Cape Town.
The coach was unsure how serious the injuries to Wilson and Pietsch were.
'Pietsch, obviously he did hurt his jaw. We're not sure to what degree at the moment,' Schmidt said.
'I'd love to think it's just bruising but we're going to have to get a little bit of a look at that in time.
'And with Harry as well, he got a bit of a wobble on it but he's feeling a little bit more comfortable now.
'So we live in hope.'
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