South Africa kicked off their Rugby Championship campaign on a positive note as they overcame Australia 35-17 in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Herschel Jantjies enjoyed a dream debut as he scored two while Lood de Jager, S'bu Nkosi and Cobus Reinach also crossed to seal the bonus.
In reply the Wallabies' two tries came via Dane Haylett-Petty and Bernard Foley as they struggled at Ellis Park in a disappointing showing.
The Springboks were leading 14-10 at the interval in an evenly contested first period, with Australia possibly feeling upset not to be in front.
Defences were on top early on before Nkosi broke down the right wing on 11 minutes before finding his scrum-half Jantjies in support. It was the ideal nerve settling score for the debutant and his namesake, Elton, added the simple extras as South Africa moved seven points up.
Foley did cut the lead to four points on 17 minutes after a breakdown offence and they went close to moving in front soon after as centre Samu Kerevi's pass to flank Lukhan Salakaia-Loto saw him gallop over. However, that pass was adjudged to have been forward by the TMO.
After that fillip, the Boks were then dealt a blow when centre Andre Esterhuizen was yellow carded for making a high tackle on Tom Banks. However, it did not affect them in the immediate aftermath as Pieter-Steph du Toit's chip kick over the top led to De Jager burrowing over.
Australia needed to rally and did so on 29 minutes as, with a numerical advantage, they went wide to where Haylett-Petty finished very well. That was the beginning of a dominant spell in opposition territory for the visitors, but they couldn't make it count as the half ended 14-10.
Congratulations to our three Springbok debutants today. Rynhardt, Herschel and Lizo are now Boks #912, #913 and #914 respectively. #Respect #StrongerTogether #RSAvAus pic.twitter.com/0sIS1Ustkj
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 20, 2019
The Boks enjoyed the better of the early second-half sparring and came close to extending the lead but for Jantjies' penalty coming up short. However, they would continue to dominate in the 22 of Australia, who had lost Taniela Tupou to the sin-bin for a dangerous clear-out.
The pressure eventually told on 56 minutes as quick hands coupled with offloading in contact allowed Nkosi to go over on the right for 21-10.
South Africa were now motoring with Jantjies claiming his brace on 63 minutes, racing in on the blindside of a ruck to make it a 28-10 buffer.
Australia desperately needed the next score and they got it when Kurtley Beale's break and offload found Foley who crossed to cut the gap and with it take the try bonus-point away from the Springboks. Therefore with 10 minutes to play there was plenty still riding on the game.
But South Africa ultimately managed to reclaim that bonus point in the final play of the game as Reinach darted over to secure the five points, putting down a marker to their Rugby Championship rivals as they now prepare to head to Wellington where New Zealand lie in wait.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: H Jantjies 2, De Jager, Nkosi, Reinach
Cons: E Jantjies 5
Yellow Card: Esterhuizen
For Australia:
Tries: Haylett-Petty, Foley
Cons: Foley 2
Pen: Foley
Yellow Card: Tupou
South Africa: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Dillyn Leyds
Australia: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nic White, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Rory Arnold, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Will Genia, 22 Matt To’omua, 23 Kurtley Beale
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
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