Australia v South Africa ends in chaos as Wallabies win with 11 players on pitch

A truly remarkable Test match saw the Springboks beaten as Australia made a major statement

Australia have stunned reigning world champions South Africa with a remarkable 42-38 victory in Perth, despite being reduced to just 11 men in the final minutes of the contest. The Springboks were much-changed from their recent Test series win over New Zealand, with head coach Rassie Erasmus making 13 alterations to his starting side. But the Wallabies were hugely impressive as they imposed themselves on the world's top team with a statement performance just a year out from hosting the Rugby World Cup .

A chaotic end to the match saw Australia lose four players in the final 10 minutes, with captain Harry Wilson sent off by the TMO after making shoulder-to-head contact with Malcolm Marx. JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE Latest news, analysis and much more Just moments later, he was followed to the sin-bin by Ryan Lonergan and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii as the hosts completely unravelled, with Hunter Paisami's dismissal seeing them reduced to 11 men in the 76th minute.

The Springboks had trailed 42-17 heading into the final 10 minutes, but were awarded a penalty try before Morné van den Berg and Ox Nche crossed to reduce the deficit to just four points and set up a nail-biting finale. However, the Wallabies did enough to survive and seal a famous win. A truly remarkable contest had seen South Africa score the first try through hooker Johan Grobbelaar, who muscled over to put his side 10-3 up after 10 minutes.

However, Len Ikitau finished off an impressive team move from the Wallabies to level the scores, before putting his side ahead with his second try minutes later as he capitalised on a mistake by Aphelele Fassi. Edwele van der Merwe then tied the scores again as the Springboks hit back, but it was the hosts who went into half-time ahead as Ben Donaldson went over in the corner to make it 24-17 at the break. In the second half, two quick-fire Wallabies tries saw them pull away from the world champions, with skipper Wilson bundling over the line to stretch his side's lead before Max Jorgensen sped away to score a fine solo try.

Everything began to unravel for Australia as the game entered the closing stages as they saw player after player sent to the bin, with van den Berg and Nche taking advantage with late scores. But while they hoped to get one last attempt to seal a sensational comeback, it wasn't to be as the Wallabies held on to seal a win that will live long in the memory. Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news.

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