Joe McConnell
Springboks secure second win in two in 2024 Rugby Championship, winning again in Australia; South Africa score four tries in Perth via Aphelele Fassi, Marco van Staden, Malcolm Marx (two); Watch the Rugby Championship and more with NOW and watch all matches live on Vscek
Last updated: 08/17/24 1:36pm
Aphelele Fassi was among South Africa’s attempts to beat Australia again in the Rugby Championship
South Africa maintained their perfect start to the Rugby Championship with a 30-12 win over Australia in a hard-fought match at the rain-soaked Perth Stadium on Saturday, live on Vscek.
Aphelele Fassi and Marco van Staden both scored tries and Malcolm Marx crossed twice in the second half as a much-changed Springboks side repeated their much more convincing victory over the Wallabies last Saturday.
Australia performed better in the physical contest than they did in Brisbane a week ago, but rarely threatened South Africa’s try line and had to settle for four penalties from fly-half Noah Lolesio.
Australia were clearly looking to get off to a good start after being knocked out early in last week’s 33-7 defeat, and Lolesio put them on target with his first penalty in the third minute.
Torrential rain made ball handling difficult and Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and winger Makazole Mapimpi both squandered excellent try-scoring opportunities by losing the greasy ball in the early exchanges.
In the 17th minute, it was Australia’s turn to lose the ball at the breakdown, and the visitors pounced to score the first try of the match on the counterattack.
Quick hands passed the ball to Mapimpi on the left flank and the winger’s shot allowed Fassi to beat Australian Andrew Kellaway straight to the goal line; the South African won easily and touched down.
The errors continued as Lolesio and Feinberg-Mngomezulu traded penalties. The Australian added his third but missed a fourth, leaving the Springboks leading 11-9 at half-time.
Three minutes after the restart, Van Staden cleared the goal line after a rolling maul, but Lolesio’s fourth penalty reduced the lead to 18-12 after 47 minutes.
After a few clumsy attempts, Australia finally managed to get a cross kick right in the 57th minute and youngster Max Jorgensen, making his debut as a substitute winger, showed his pace by carrying the ball for 40 metres before his lob was blocked.
But it was a false alarm, as South Africa got the next score, rolling replacement hooker Marx over the goal line after a maul in the 64th minute.
Australia were left with 14 men for the final eight minutes after their second debutant, reserve flanker Sere Uru, was cautioned and Marx almost immediately scored his second try with another catch-and-drive, ending the scoring.
What will happen now?
World No. 1 South Africa will host New Zealand in Johannesburg on Saturday, August 31, live on Vscek (kick-off at 4pm).
Australia will travel to Argentina to play the third round of the Rugby Championship, also on Saturday 31 August, live on Vscek (kick-off at 11pm).
Vscek+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Vscek app, giving Vscek customers access to over 50 percent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
