World champion Springboks crush Wallabies as Sacha shines in first start

The match started with an early scrum for the Boks - but it wasn't scrumhalf Cobus Reinach who threw the ball in but Cheslin Kolbe, who regathered, threw a dummy and very nearly broke through the line, a surprise tactic that nearly paid off.

The Boks were looking sharp and after creating some space on the outside following a nice backline move, they were awarded a breakdown penalty. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu lined up his first shot at goal but it was well wide - a sign of some early nerves from the youngster that he would soon banish.

Another couple of penalties followed soon after as the Boks continued to dominate possession, but this time they kicked for the corner, and after setting up the rolling maul from the ensuing line-out, a clever shift of the ball to Eben Etzebeth caught the Aussies napping, allowing Siya Kolisi to crash over for the opening try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu lined up a much tougher kick than the first but nailed it from the sidelines as the Boks took a deserved 7-0 lead.

Moments later, an aerial collision between Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Reinach left the No 9 a little worse for the wear, but after a break in play, he was able to continue.

A great turnover in the midfield from the Boks saw Feinberg-Mngomezulu pin his ears back and break the line, charging downfield. It looked like a certain score for the visitors but somehow the Wallabies kept them out, the normally deadly Willie le Roux choosing to hang on to the ball when he should have let it go.

The Boks continued to look dangerous, however, and after another eight-phase attack that saw the South Africans use plenty of width and show some great hands, it eventually opened up straight down the middle as Pieter-Steph du Toit barged over for their second try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras as the Boks took a 14-0 lead.

The Boks were very nearly in from try number three after a beautiful long pass over the top saw Kurt-Lee Arendse storm through a gap, but an early tackle from the Wallabies on Le Roux saw the home side escape. Unfortunately for the hosts, the TMO also spotted a dangerous tackle, leading to a yellow card for winger Andrew Kellaway.

The Boks kicked for the corner as they looked to turn the screws on their under-fire opponents, but Malcolm Marx - on the field for the injured Bongi Mbonambi - was tackled superbly on the line, knocking the ball on in the process.

A Wallabies error inside their own 22 saw the ball turned over, however, and when a loose ball fell to Arendse, the speedster showed some hot feet to open up a gap and canter over for the Boks' third try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu made it 21-0 as the Boks continued to make their territory and possession dominance count.

As the minutes ticked down to half-time, the Wallabies were awarded a penalty and kicked for some rare field position. That led to their best spell of possession inside the Boks' 22, but the visitors' defence stood firm, eventually forcing the knock-on as one of the more dominant halves of Springbok rugby in recent memory came to an end.

The second half started with a scrum penalty for the Boks, the Wallabies forwards continuing to struggle to match their South African counterparts.

When the Boks gave away a rare penalty for failing to release, it allowed the Aussies to kick for the corner, but the Boks turned the ball over and turned defence into attack, making it all the way to the Wallabies 22 after some beautiful hands from both the forwards and backs.

A loose pass from the visitors saw the Wallabies hack the ball through and put the Boks under some rare pressure, earning a penalty advantage and a kick for the corner. It was now or never for the Aussies, but their rolling maul could not get rolling, and some great pressure from Etzebeth saw the ball turned over.

The Boks started to empty their bench, bringing on Grant Williams for Reinach and calling in the Bomb Squad to introduce five fresh forwards on the pitch.

A couple of penalty advantages took the Boks right back inside the Aussie 22 where they turned the screws, some relentless pressure eventually allowing new man Kwagga Smith to crash over for their fourth try, easily converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu from right in front.

Try number five followed shortly after, the Boks absolutely on fire as Kriel broke through the line with a step inside before offloading to Arendse for his second try of the evening. Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed his first conversion but it hardly mattered.

The Wallabies were looking totally down and out but were given a boost when a TMO intervention spotted a high shot from Marx, who went too high in the tackle and got 10 minutes for his troubles.

The Aussies rode that penalty advantage to some rare field position and it wasn't long before Marko van Staden was shown another yellow for repeated infringements as the Boks were reduced to just 13 with eight minutes to play.

Surely the Wallabies would score now, and after 75 minutes, the home side got on the board as a pass out wide finally breached the Springbok defence to allow Hunter Paisami to crash over for the try.

Incredibly, there was another yellow card to the Boks, Jesse Kriel getting sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, though thankfully Marx had come back onto the field so the Boks still had 13 men on the field and not 12.

But there was no time left for the Wallabies to make it count as one final defensive effort from the men in green and gold saw the ball turned over as the South African emerged with a statement victory in Brisbane.

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