KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - Australia recovered from a nightmare start to beat South Africa 25-17 at Sydney's Olympic stadium in their Tri-Nations clash last night.
The victory handed the halfback combination of George Gregan and Stephen Larkham a dream send-off in their last appearances on home soil for the Wallabies.
The Australians followed up their surprise win over New Zealand last weekend with a hard-fought success.
They came from 17-0 down after 10 minutes against a Springbok team missing most of their top players after coach Jake White decided to save them for the World Cup in France.
The Springboks scored two tries in the first 10 minutes through flanker Wikus van Heerden and winger Breyton Paulse, who intercepted an attempted long pass from Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe and sprinted over from 50m.
The South Africans were keen to prove a point after sparking a furore in Australia with the decision to rest top players and being dubbed the "B Boks" by an unimpressed Australian media.
Some stubborn defence and Australian errors kept on lid on the scoring in a game dominated by Australia for long periods, with the Wallabies enjoying 61 percent of the possession.
Flanker and man of the match Stephen Hoiles, wing Mark Gerrard and centre Matt Giteau all scored for the Wallabies, who did not take the lead until 11 minutes into the second half.
"I was confident we would work our way back into it," Wallaby coach John Connolly said.
"We controlled the middle 50 minutes well and I was disappointed we didn't go on."
The sin-binning of Springbok hooker Gary Botha 15 minutes in the second half allowed Australia to turn the screw and Giteau squirmed through a tackle on the line for what proved the decisive try.
Larkham, winning his 100th Wallaby cap, said he was disappointed with a "patchy" personal performance.
"There were a few errors that were a little bit disappointing for me that crept into my game," he said.
He and Gregan had received standing ovations from the 51,000 crowd when then ran on individually at the start of the game, a reception Larkham said he found a "little embarrassing."
Springbok coach White said that game showed the depth of South African rugby.
"I'm very happy with where we are with the squad of players," he said.
"We are not happy with losing, we really came out here to win. But there are a lot of positives that you can take out of the game."
The final leg of the annual series takes place in New Zealand over the next fortnight with the All Blacks hosting South Africa on July 14 then Australia a week later.
Australia top the standings on nine points with New Zealand and South Africa both on five. The Kiwis have a game in hand.
- REUTERS