Four cards, eleven men, one famous win: Wallabies hold off the Springboks 42-38

Australia have not beaten South Africa often in recent years, and they have surely never done it quite like this. At a roaring Optus Stadium in Perth, the Wallabies built a 42-17 lead, then survived one of the strangest final quarters in memory: four yellow cards, eleven men on the field at the death, a referee running his reviews by mobile phone, and a Springbok comeback that fell four points short. Final score, Australia 42, South Africa 38, and the Mandela Challenge Plate is Australian again for the first time since 2022.

For the record, this was a standalone Test, not a Rugby Championship round. There was no Rugby Championship in 2026, the southern nations having returned to old-fashioned home-and-away tours, so this one-off in Perth sat inside Australia's home series. It also kept Les Kiss unbeaten since he took the Wallabies job from Joe Schmidt in July, a year out from a home World Cup.

A brilliant first hour in gold

South Africa, with Rassie Erasmus making 13 changes from the side that beat New Zealand in Baltimore and André Esterhuizen captaining the Springboks for the first time, started the better. Handré Pollard kicked an early penalty and Johan Grobbelaar rumbled over from a lineout maul on 10 minutes for his first Test try. But Australia found their rhythm through their midfield and their halfback.

Len Ikitau was the best player on the park. He scored twice in three first-half minutes, the first off a Lukhan Salakaia-Loto offload on 24 minutes, the second on 27 after Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i climbed to win the ball in the air and Hunter Paisami sent him through. Edwill van der Merwe answered for South Africa off a long Pollard pass, but Ben Donaldson finished a patient fourteen-phase move right on halftime, and Australia led 24-17 at the break. Ryan Lonergan was flawless off the tee, kicking seven from seven for a 17-point haul, and Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight led an abrasive Wallabies effort at the breakdown.

Australia's midfield, led by a superb Len Ikitau, was the difference in the first half. File photo. Photo: Stefano Delfrate / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Australia surged further clear after the break. Lonergan added a penalty, Max Jorgensen intercepted and raced away from around 40 metres, and captain Harry Wilson snapped up a quick tap to score. At 42-17 with a quarter to go, the game looked done. It was not.

The eight minutes that made it madness

What followed was extraordinary, and it was all in one colour. Italian referee Andrea Piardi issued four yellow cards to Australia in barely eight minutes, and the Wallabies finished the match with eleven players on the field.

Wilson went first, around 69 minutes, for a high tackle on Malcolm Marx. Then Lonergan was binned on 71 minutes for a professional foul that killed a certain try, and Piardi awarded South Africa a penalty try, closing it to 42-24. Sua'ali'i followed on 73 minutes for a deliberate infringement, and Paisami went on 76 for a high tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, an offence that also wiped out what looked like Tom Wright's match-sealing intercept try after review. There were no red cards and no bunker upgrades: four yellows, and a defence stretched to breaking.

Complicating everything, the TMO's communications equipment failed during the chaos, and Piardi was left to conduct his reviews by telephone. Remarkably, both camps praised how it was handled.

Morne van den Berg and Ox Nche crossed late as South Africa surged. File photo. Photo: Like tears in rain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

South Africa smelled blood. Morne van den Berg scored on 74 minutes and Ox Nche barged over on 80, both converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and suddenly 42-24 was 42-38 with the hooter looming. Paul de Villiers, outstanding all night with two crucial turnovers, and the muscular Springbok bench had hauled the world champions to within a converted try. Australia, down to eleven, simply had to hold on, and somehow they did.

What they said

Les Kiss did not pretend it had been comfortable. "That one pushed the heart, didn't it?" the Wallabies coach said, before adding a plea not to lose the plot over the finish: "A bizarre finish, but I don't want us to forget about the first 60." Harry Wilson, who scored a try and then spent the closing stages in the bin, was thrilled and rueful at once: "It was a crazy last ten minutes, but that first 70 minutes, the way we played, we implemented our game plan. I'm so proud of the boys." Sua'ali'i put the survival simply: "We had 11 players on the field and for us to really dig deep and come up on top."

Erasmus, typically, went looking inward rather than at the officials. He praised the way Piardi coped without his communications gear, saying the referees "got a lot of things right on the telephones," and refused to blame the chaos for the loss. "It's not because of the long touring, it's because we weren't good enough and Australia were better," he said. "Australia are a good team, playing well under Les."

Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight anchored an abrasive Wallabies effort. File photo. Photo: Stefano Delfrate / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

What it means

Australia reclaim the Mandela Challenge Plate for the first time in four years, and Les Kiss remains unbeaten as coach heading toward the 2027 World Cup, which Australia hosts and which Optus Stadium will open. For South Africa it was a rare off-night at the end of a long and triumphant tour, with Esterhuizen honest in defeat: "I have got to be better than that." Grobbelaar had his first Test try to remember it by, and Jasper Wiese brought up his 50th cap.

Mostly, though, this was a night Perth will talk about for years: a 25-point lead, four cards, a phone-a-friend TMO, and a Wallabies side that refused to let go.