Match Centre: Australia 25-17 South Africa

Australia 25-17 South Africa, Adelaide

Fraser McReight scored a double as Australia successfully managed to overcome a late surge from South Africa as they sealed a 25-17 win in the third round of the Rugby Championship in Adelaide on Saturday.

This is second win for Australia after their defeat to Argentina in the second round while the Springboks now have suffered back to back defeats in the competition.

Australia made a terrific start to the game as Rob Valetini attacked deep into South Africa 22 following which a quick pass from Nic White was grabbed by McReight as he touched down in the opening minute and Noah Lolesio kicked the conversion.

The scoreline soon became 10-0 in the sixth minute as South Africa were guilty of straying offside and Lolesio slotted a three-pointer.

Handre Pollard's first two attempts were off target before the Springboks fly-half finally found his target with a kick in the 24th minute after White was penalised for an illegal obstruction.

As the half hour mark was approaching, the Springboks thought they got their opening try through Ox Nche but a firm defence from the Wallabies ensured they still maintained their 10-3 lead.

At the stroke of half-time, once again South Africa launched an attack but Makazole Mapimpi was tackled magnificently by Marika Koroibete and in the process Faf de Klerk saw a yellow card for striking the cheek of his opposite number as Dave Rennie's men completed the opening half a with a 10-3 lead.

The second half started similar to the first as this time Marika Koroibete gathered a pass from Lolesio and went past Pollard to dot down but Lolesio missed out on the conversion making it 15-3.

The Wallabies extended their dominance as Lolesio collected a pass from James Slipper before the attack ended with an offload to McReight, who dived over for the second time in the game. This time Lolesio got the conversion right to make it 22-3 and followed with another three-pointer in the 64th minute to extend their lead to 22 points.

Just as the Wallabies were coasting to a comfortable win, they had a late scare from Kwagga Smith, who dived over twice in the final five minutes but eventually the Springboks fell short by eight points.

Team line up:

Australia: 15 Reece Hodge, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper (captain).

Reserves: 16 David Porecki, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Warrick Gelant, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.

Reserves: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Francois Steyn.