‘Nothing could have prepared’ Wallabies for wild Springboks finish

“Nothing could have prepared us for that,” coach Les Kiss said post-game, after the Wallabies survived a chaotic finish to beat the Springboks 42-38. The Aussies went down to 11 men in the final 10 minutes but held on, despite conceding 21 points in that period.

It was the type of Test match that had a bit of everything, with four yellow cards awarded and 80 points scored between the two sides. Harry Wilson was one of Australia’s try-scorers on the night, but the skipper was also one of the players told to sit down for 10 minutes.

Wilson was shown a yellow card, and then Ryan Lonergan went off two minutes later, as the Boks began their fightback with a penalty try. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Hunter Paisami came off as well, with the Wallabies left scrambling in defence to protect their lead.

Tom Hooper made an important cover tackle inside the Wallabies’ 22, and other players draped in gold made game-defining stops in defence. But Ox Nche would still go on to make it a one-score game, crashing over in the dying stages.

Wilson and Lonergan returned as the Wallabies walked back to halfway, sending the kick-off long and parking the Springboks inside their own half. An obstruction against the Boks brought an end to the thriller, with the Perth crowd erupting into a state of euphoria and passion.

“There’s a certain part of knowing things to a certain degree, but the things that you don’t think you know, you really do know,” Kiss told reporters.

“These guys knew that, they knew that they had to find something… talking about this backyard spirit – something came through there in that space where you just find a way, you know that it’s important and it didn’t surprise me.

“It wouldn’t have been able to be achieved if we didn’t do the first 65 the way we did and that’s the really special part for us. I’m bloody pleased for these boys. They deserve that.”

An Australian team coached by Joe Schmdit defeated the Springboks in Johannesburg last year, but that side is remarkably different to the XV that played last weekend. There were only four players who held onto the same starting spot between those two Tests, about 14 months apart.

Fraser McReight and Wilson were retained in the pack, while Max Jorgensen and Tom Wright made up an important part of the backline. Others like Len Ikitau and Suaalii featured in both matches, but had shifted to new roles.

Ikitau hadn’t started a match, at either club or Test level, since the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals in 2025. But the midfielder stole the show in the first half, crossing for two tries in as many minutes, as the Wallabies took control.

Ben Donaldson, Wilson and Jorgensen also got on the scoresheet, while the accurate goal-kicking boot of Lonergan proved key. It was a 25-point ball game before a flurry of those yellow cards changed the game late.

“It was bizarre for sure… there was a real calmness in the coaching box for the majority of it,” Kiss said.

“The boys found a way. The pleasing thing for me was that the group out there on the pitch that were there, down to low numbers that we were, there was a nice calmness, building a bit of clarity and focus about what they had to do next.

“Hearing that back and seeing how they looked and felt in those tough moments, that’s incredibly pleasing.

“I know that’s a big part of this story, I know it’s a big part of what we saw but there’s a lot to talk about in that first 60 as well that we will continue to look at and grow from. I thought the boys did fantastically well for 60.”