The Wallabies scored 38 unanswered points against the back-to-back World Champions, breaking a 63-year drought at Ellis Park and claiming just their second-ever win at the Highveld venue.

The Boks had raced to a 22-0 lead against the team from Down Under before the wheels came off spectacularly, resulting in South Africa dropping from first to third in the rugby world rankings following their first defeat in more than a year. Meanwhile, the All Blacks climbed to the summit after beating the Pumas 41-24 in Cordoba, Argentina.

Kurt-Lee Arendse. Photo: SA Rugby

Tries by Kurt-Lee Arendse, André Esterhuizen, and Siya Kolisi, along with two conversions and a penalty by Manie Libbok within the first 17 minutes, suggested a long day ahead for Joe Schmidt’s side – but Australia managed to turn the game around in emphatic style.

Not even the feared Springbok “bomb squad” had any impact on the Test, and the world champions will no doubt do plenty of soul-searching ahead of the second Test in the championship against Australia in Cape Town.

Erasmus credited Australia for their remarkable win but acknowledged the Boks will have to take it on the chin and find a way to set the record straight in Cape Town.

“I must be honest, that’s probably one of the most embarrassing press conferences I’ve done in a while. Not because we were awful, but because they were really good,” said Erasmus.

“I don’t want to use the old cliché, but credit to them, they were good. Still, we made them better with our performance.

“To be 20-0 up ... we did the same against Italy, 27-3 up, and then we let teams back in. You can make excuses, but at the end of the day, they fought it out. They had a few injuries with Will Skelton and Dylan Pietch going off, and we had one or two as well, but yes, we gave away one or two soft tries. We had an intercept where we were almost scoring, and instead, they scored from a pass from André.

Springboks. Photo: SA Rugby

“Overall, they were just better than us on the day in most departments. We didn’t scrum them properly; they beat us in the lineouts. For the first 25 minutes I thought we were really good at the breakdown, but after Siya got injured and Marco van Staden had to go for an HIA, they bullied us there, too. So I can just sit here and say, listen, they beat us in most departments.

“We as coaches got it terribly wrong, and we have to look at ourselves first before pointing fingers at the players. From now until next Saturday, we’ll take a lot of flak. But when we take the credit when we’re doing well, I also take the flak when we’re doing badly. I’m not saying that with a smile because I’m happy – I’m saying it with a smile because that’s the reality of rugby.”

Rassie Erasmus. Photo: Morgan Piek

“We’re very disappointed. We feel bad for our supporters, for our players, and overall for what we produced on the field. We are very disappointed.”

On Saturday at 17:10, the Springboks will face the Wallabies at Cape Town Stadium.

Springboks: Tries – Kurt-Lee Arendse, André Esterhuizen, Siya Kolisi Conv. – Manie Libbok 2 Pen. – Libbok

Wallabies: Tries – Dylan Pietch, Harry Wilson 2, Joseph Sua’ali’i, Max Jorgensen, Tom Wright Conv. – James O'Connor 4

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg