The Wallabies have capitalised on a late yellow card to Springboks winger Bryan Habana in his 100th Test to steal an epic 24-23 victory at the death in Perth.
Flyhalf Bernard Foley kicked his second match-winning goal in as many months after super-sub Kurtley Beale helped spark the 10-point comeback on Saturday to end the Springboks’ eight-match winning streak.
With the Wallabies looking down and out at 23-14 behind with 15 minutes to go, Habana – who had been dangerous all night – was harshly sin-binned for an apparent high tackle on Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Springboks captain Jean de Villiers pleaded with Irish referee George Clancy not to bin his teammate but it was to no avail.
Beale came on soon after to exploit the numerical advantage and earn a penalty, then combined with the Waratahs-laden backline to put Horne over in the 78th minute.
Foley, who had a mixed night in his first international outing with halves partner Nick Phipps in wet and windy conditions, then stepped up to the plate to nail a conversion 10 metres in from the sideline.
The win keeps the Mandela Challenge Plate alive, and shows the Wallabies aren’t the easybeats the All Blacks made them out to be at Eden Park two weeks ago.
And while it wasn’t scintillating end-to-end rugby, it was about as entertaining as one could have hoped for on a thoroughly saturated Patersons Stadium.
The Wallabies got off to a flyer after a leaping Israel Folau regained the kick-off.
And like he’s done so many times this season Folau finished what he started, running onto a low pass from a cool-headed Matt Toomua to cross after just 90 seconds.
Much of the visitor’s early territorial dominance was due to a strong tail wind, and they made the most of it by plugging the corners and pinning the Australians in their own territory.
The tactics worked, and the Springboks absorbed the shock start through a Morne Steyn penalty goal, then hit the front through a well constructed try to winger Cornal Hendricks.
The sides then traded two penalty goals apiece for the Boks to go up 14-11 at halftime.
While the Wallabies played the more enterprising rugby, they fell just short of being rewarded for their efforts when Ashley-Cooper lost the ball over the tryline while diving for a Toomua grubber.
The Wallabies had the strong breeze in their favour in the second half, but quickly lost their bundle, extremely poor kicking and basic errors quickly negating any advantage.
The Wallabies’ scrum was then put under severe pressure from the Boks, directly costing them two penalty goals on the back of Steyn’s reliable boot.
But Habana’s yellow card soon turned the match on its head, Australia coming from behind for a historic win.
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer refused to cry foul after the match when asked what he thought of Habana’s controversial yellow card.
“I think you know the answer and I know the answer, so I’m not going to answer. The ref is always right,” Meyer said.
“I’d love to answer that question. But I’m not going into it. We don’t want to use it as an excuse.”
De Villiers was also diplomatic after the match, saying he just wanted consistency – especially considering Horne’s high shot on himself minutes earlier in a similar position on the field.
“To sit here and complain about the referee’s decision isn’t our way. We’ll just take this one on the chin,” he said.
However, de Villiers did say it was a shattering way for Habana to finish his 100th Test.
“I do feel for him. Getting sin binned on your 100th isn’t the way he ever envisaged,” he said.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie defended his decision to wait until late in the game to sub Beale on at inside centre.
“Everyone’s an expert on who to pick, but I think we got a good outcome. Kurtley gave us a good second wave of attack in the last 10 minutes,” he said.
“I always think of the bench as finishing the game and that’s what they did.”
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper praised Foley for his steely nerves during his last two kicks.
“It’s really comforting as a captain to know you’ve got a guy who can hit the pressure goals.
“That was a tough kick.”
Jerry
Guest
Couldn't go to the '3rd Umpire' as the ref blew it up immediately - as the try hadn't been scored when the whistle was blown, the TMO couldn't possibly award it. What the ref should have done was hold off blowing, even if he thought it was a knock on, then he could have checked after the fact. Rigged is an absurd suggestion when the Argies got away with pulling down Savea with the line open and when that guy who shoulder charged McCaw in the head with no card to either of them.
Dave
Guest
Was there 'not enough obstruction' in the first WB try?
Benny
Guest
Did you watch the game? If you did, you'd have seen Savea tackled without the ball with the try line in front of him. Ref and AR were both there but missed it. I'd say it was bad reffing but evenly bad. Not rigged, why would someone rig a game for the ABs to win?
Rockape11
Guest
Did anyone notice the Wallabies' empty coaching box? Every time the camera panned there I could only see link and one analyst tapping away at the laptop. In comparison, the Boks always had 3/4 sets of eyes on the play. Are things really that tight at the ARU?
felix
Guest
Cant agree enough,we should of won without Bryan,If Steyn cant perform at a game plan he is supposed to dominate world wide incl the AB then I'm afraid he is useless in what he is selected for,Aussies have only pace working for them skill wise Boks and AB are way ahead.
Internal Fixation
Guest
The Wallabies seem to benefit from complaints about prior refereeing performances at ARU level. Should do it more as it is one of the few things we obviously do well.....
PiratesRugby
Guest
Then he should have said "Horne tackled JDV" or "Horne tackled him". If that's what he meant to say. To say someone tackles themselves can only actually mean one thing. Obviously you're on the same wavelength as that oaf so you can understand him. Bogans rule. Apparently.
bozo
Guest
Without wishing to suggest Clancy was not appalling, what come around goes around. Australia would not have been beaten by England last November but for Clancy.
Dr Bob
Guest
amne and it was the Brumby who made the only breaks for the Wallabies. Come on give credit where it is due. if Kurindrady (?) hadn't made that break late in the game we would have lost the test. The way we played we deserved to lose it.
Dontcallmeshirley
Guest
Referees have become way too quick to hand out yellow cards. There have been five so far in the comp and maybe only the one to McCaw was justified (maybe). Cards have a huge effect on games and should only be used for serious infringements. The one against Simmonds and the one against Habana were pivotal in deciding those matches. Both were given out by over zealous refs.
Sylvester
Guest
Yellow card was a terrible call but fact remains - Steyn kicks that penalty out and we're not having this conversation.
Loftus
Guest
Are you blind or a simple troll. You were trailing by 9 until the referee helped you out. How much did the ARU pay Clancy?
Imperialist
Guest
So. The wallabies scrape a one point win at home because of an unjust sending off which gave them a numerical advantage. Wallabies to win RWC, eh?
StrYdeR
Roar Rookie
That's on the money Chan. All teams can take a leaf out of the AB book, how often are they not down a player (or even 2) and still play the situation, control the game. Yet another aspect of the game where they are far ahead of the chasing pack.
StrYdeR
Roar Rookie
Not sure that as fans we should be accepting poor decisions? The referee's should get it right if they don't we have every justification to say something. Players should accept the poor decisions and play according to the situation. Springboks did not and it ended up contributing to them losing the game.
StrYdeR
Roar Rookie
Honestly at this point, with the Boks playing the way they are, I can't see any other result than an AB bonus point win next week. Me thinks the Boks RC challenge 2014 is pretty much over and unless it all goes horribly pear shaped the ABs will wrap it up in the next 2 games...
StrYdeR
Roar Rookie
Sorry Hugo, I understand your sentiment but as a Boks supporter we have been on the wrong end of these decisions too often to not be well enough prepared to deal with these situations. Deserved or not, we lost a player and we did not close the game out as we should have, experienced players made mistakes and the Wallabies took great advantage!
StrYdeR
Roar Rookie
If the Boks deserved to win, they would have. It was a good performance by Australia and well done to them!
Chan Wee
Guest
he was helped by the SA team who stopped playanticipating a scrum. IMO the SA team lost composure when Habana was sent off. everything they did since that was headless chicken like. in fact they w ere lucky not to get a yellow for serial offenses in the red zone. no doubt helped by some stupidity from Simmons for taking out Eben off ball.
Chan Wee
Guest
" I don’t think the Habana binning ( ridiculous ) was the deciding factor mind. The Horne try was on the opposite wing to Habanas. " lol , that is a good reasong but what u seem to ignore is that the full back , who is supposed to be cover defender was on that wing (Habana's). somehow the strange thing is SA looked disturbed playing 14 - 15 rugger. Compare that to NZ who played for 22 minutes with 14 and did not let OZ score. consdiering that in super , I think sharks played with 14 for like 60 minutes against crusaders and won.