The result ensures that South Africa get the wooden spoon and Australia will finish in second place regardless of how they perform against the All Blacks in Sydney next weekend.

The Wallabies outscored their opponents by five tries to three and were arguably the better team for most of the match. However after they scored the bonus point try they sat back until they were sparked into life by a yellow card.

As the Springboks went from first place to last there will be serious questions asked about the team leadership, the players’ approach to Test matches and their preparation with a record of only six wins from their last 15 outings starting with last year’s European tour.

That includes the two losses to the two club sides Saracens and Leicester Tigers with three of their victories against lowly Italy.

The Boks on Saturday also relinquished the Nelson Mandela Plate and lost their first match against the Wallabies in Bloemfontein since 1933.

The defeat underlined the weak performances in the first half that were the Boks’ trademark in all the Tests with the exception of the one against the All Blacks a fortnight ago.

The Wallabies, like last week, raced out to a bonus point for scoring four tries but this week they scored the bonus point a minute earlier as it came in the 25th minute.

Then just like last week the Wallabies took their foot off the gas and allowed the Springboks to score although it did take until just before half time until the Springboks scored.

In the second half the Springboks took a big step up – like last week and managed to get to within a point.

Then with 20 minutes remaining the Springboks were awarded a penalty so Morne Steyn put in a huge penalty kick and took the lead for the first time for the Springboks.

The home side played some good rugby in the second half against a Wallaby side that suddenly seemed rattled and looked as if they were defending their lead.

The Aussies came back when it counted and ten points in the last ten minutes clinched matters.

It was a shocking first half of poor tackling, conceded turnovers and penalties that didn’t reach the touchline

The Wallabies built up a lead of 31-6 after only 29 minutes, scoring four tries for a bonus point.

With four tries needed to catch up, the Boks seldom looked like achieving this goal before the break, despite one or two attempts undone by poor handling or another turnover.

The fight back started with the try by Jaque Fourie after the hooter.

It was set up by Victor Matfield who picked up 25 metres out after a ruck, chipped over the Wallabies’ line and caught the ball to off-load to Fourie when he was tackled by Quade Cooper.

It was sad to hear the crowd of just over 38 500 jeer every time their former hero Habana was involved or awaited a high kick.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, in addition to an appalling record this season, must take the blame for continuing to play an out-of-form tired player that deserved better than this predictable response from the supporters.

His replacement Gio Aplon was loudly cheered when he replaced Habana in the second half. It was a seemingly rejuvenated Bok side that came out after halftime.

They took the game to the Wallabies, looking more aggressive at the breakdown and showing more purpose on attack.

They were rewarded in the fifth minute of the second half when Gurthro Steenkamp scored after a driving effort and following good work in the earlier phases by Schalk Burger.

With Morne Steyn – who continued his outstanding kicking form of the previous two Tri-Nations tests – the Boks were in the mix at 31-20 down and it became 31-23 to the Wallabies after yet another successful penalty by the Boks’ flyhalf.

The Springboks now played with the fire one expected from the outset and when a ruck turnover by Australia on their own line was botched, the Boks scored from the ensuring five metre scrum Jean de Villiers cut to the inside to receive from Morne Steyn and go over under the posts (31-10 to Australia).

The Boks were in control, and a 48 metre penalty by Steyn put them into what before the break had seemed an unlikely lead (33-31 to South Africa).

It was stretched to 36-31 when Saia Fainga’a was yellow-carded with ten minutes left on the clock.

Slick handling from a breakdown in the Boks’ 22 had Drew Mitchell scythed through under the posts and with James O’Connor’s conversion good, the visitors were 38-36 ahead with eight minutes remaining.

Then, running from their own half, a Wallaby pass found Kurtley Beale off-balance. The ball hit his head, bounced forward and Fourie sent JP Pietersen on a run that was stopped near the tryline where the Wallabies transgressed.

Steyn kicked his ninth from nine attempts to regain the lead for the Springboks (39-38).

A knock-on 100 seconds before the hooter gave the Boks a scrum and they tried to run down the clock from the possession gained until they went down in the fourth ruck formed.

A penalty was the result and Beale was equal to the task and kicked from an angle and about 50 metres away to give the Aussies their win.

Final Score South Africa 39 Australia 41

Scorers

South Africa
Tries – J Fourie, G Steenkamp, J de Villiers
Pen – M Steyn 5
Con – M Steyn 3
Drop -
Cards -

Australia
Tries – K Beale, J O’Connor, S Moore, R Elsom, D Mitchell
Pen – M Giteau, K Beale
Con – M Giteau 4, J O’Connor
Drop -
Cards – Saia Fainga’a (69) Yellow

Man of the match : Gurthro Steenkamp

Referee: Wayne Barnes (ENG)

Teams (15-1)

South Africa Francois Steyn; JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard; Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger; Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw; Jannie du Plessis, John Smit (capt), Gurthro Steenkamp

Replacements: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe, Ryan Kankowski, Ricky Januarie, Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon

Australia Kurtley Beale; James O’Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Ben McCalman, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom (capt); Nathan Sharpe, Mark Chisholm; Salesi Ma’afu, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson

Replacements: Saia Fainga’a, James Slipper, Dean Mumm, Richard Brown, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Anthony Fainga’a

France played well as they opened the scoring with an unconverted try by centre Lucille Godiveau, but Canada answered back five minutes later when Anna Schnell kicked a penalty to make it 5-3.

After France went up 13-3 courtesy a penalty kicked by Aureile Bailon and a try from Cyrielle Bouisset, Canada tacked on five points when they opted for a scrum penalty and number Kelly Russell rumbled over to close the gap to five points.

But France added two more tries to clinch the match.

The best Canada can now finish is fifth, after finishing fourth the three pevious World Cups.

Canada next plays Scotland Wednesday in a fifth-place semifinal.

Changing interpretations of the law after Wales’ 2008 success – notably concerning tacklers competing for the ball at the breakdown – swung the balance towards strong defensive sides, making teams reluctant to run and leading to the ping-pong kicking that has frustrated many for the last year.

That led to another review in December 2009 and – although the International Rugby Board re-stated that there would be no law changes before the 2011 World Cup – they approved new directives that have been implemented by the southern hemisphere sides since the start of their season.

The law directives have particularly affected four areas; a slower engagement process at the scrum; a clampdown on obstruction when mauls are formed from the line-out; a stricter application of the offside rule at rucks, mauls and after kicks; and a complicated re-interpretation of the tackle law.

KEY AREAS FOR IRB DIRECTIVES

The breakdown

The IRB’s head of game analysis Corris Thomas says there has been a huge impact on this year’s Tri-Nations.

“The most noticeable thing so far is the number of tries that have been scored,” said Thomas, speaking at the halfway stage of the tournament, before last Saturday’s win for New Zealand in South Africa.

“Last year, there was an average of three tries and eight penalty goals per game.

“So far this year the tries have exceeded the penalties – it’s been a very, very attractive form of rugby.

“In a normal international, you would expect 60-to-65 kicks per game, but the average so far this year is about 35.

“There were only 18 in one of the New Zealand versus Australia games – compare that to the 91 in the 2007 World Cup final.”

While Thomas stresses that the attitude of the teams in question has also played a major role in the changes, the new refereeing approach seems to have had a major impact

“I think the game has changed for the better,” said Wales kicking coach Neil Jenkins.

“We hope it will be more like 2008. We try to keep the ball on the park and play with high intensity.

“If the ball is in play for 40 minutes and above we can burn most of the sides that we play against.

“That’s what we want and that’s how the game should be played.”

While fans are sure to thrill to the extra attacking rugby expected in 2010/11, there is likely to be plentiful barracking of the officials over the interpretation of the following laws concerning the breakdown.

- 15.4(c): The tackler who has gone to ground can, when back on their feet, play the ball from any direction.

- 15.6(c): The tackler who stays on their feet has to release that player and then only play the ball coming from the direction of their own goalline.

There will be a much stricter enforcement of the latter law with regard to the release of a player, stopping a tackler immediately bouncing to his or her feet and ‘jackaling’ the ball free in the manner perfected by Brian O’Driscoll.

Simple enough? Well, maybe not when you also have to factor in new interpretations of who is a ‘tackler’ and who is an ‘assister’.

Under the old directives, an ‘assister’ in a double tackle was able to play the ball provided they stayed on their feet.

Now, that player has to release the ball carrier and can only then enter the breakdown through the ‘gate’ – from the assister’s team’s side, directly behind the ball and tackled player.

To further muddy the waters, in a one-on-one tackle, if the ball-carrier is put down but the tackler does not follow him or her to the floor then the defender is deemed an ‘assister’ – meaning there is no ‘tackler’!

Cue scratching of heads, arguments, abuse and extra counselling sessions for officials.

But the Tri-Nations certainly seems to have opened up for New Zealand, while the attack-minded Wallabies also overcame world champions South Africa, whose line-out power has been restricted with teams kicking less.

“It’s a mixture of several things [not just the law directives],” said Thomas.

“The players didn’t like kicking the ball back and fore any more than the spectators.

“Certainly New Zealand have taken the view that possession is really important to them, so why should they kick it away when they have very quick and effective backs who can counter-attack?

“If the ball is not being kicked there are many more passes and many more rucks.

A lot of the kicking was purely because of the tackle area as we were simply afraid to give penalties away

“In the Tri-Nations there have been 40% more passes and 50% more rucks.

“Passing more means you are more susceptible to mistakes. There’s a premium on catching the ball and not conceding turnovers.

“If there are 50% more rucks then players are tackling 50% more times, so there’s additional demands on fitness, strength and so on.”

Wales are certainly hopeful that their favoured high-intensity game can again bear the fruit that was harvested so abundantly two years ago.

“[Under the new directives] if you’ve got the ball you can keep it for longer periods,” said Jenkins.

“That suits New Zealand, it suits ourselves, it suits a lot of sides in the world that are good attacking teams.

“When you can keep the ball you’re going to cause the opposition problems, defence becomes a lot harder.

“The kicking game is still important, but less than it was.

“We’re a running nation, we like to play with the ball in hand and think the laws will suit the guys at the regions when they start in September and, hopefully, Wales from November onwards.

“A lot of the kicking was purely because of the tackle area as we were simply afraid to give penalties away, it was such a congested area.

“All of a sudden now you can keep the ball in play and play with ball in hand.

“It changes the game a lot and it’s what everyone wants to see.”

South Africa recovered from a nightmare start to beat Australia and move to second place in the Tri-Nations.

The Wallabies amassed 14 points in only four minutes after quickfire tries from Will Genia and James O’Connor.

The sides shared some 38 points before the break, and the 50th minute saw Francois Steyn finish a messy move to put the hosts into the lead at 34-31.

Further points by Francois Steyn and a try from JP Peterson put the match beyond Australia’s reach.

The win means South Africa edge a point ahead of Australia and into second place with five points – but still way behind the All Blacks who are uncatchable at the top with 23.

The victory also ended a four-game losing streak for Peter de Villiers’ men, and was a fitting way to mark the Victor Matfield’s 100th Test at his home ground.

After the game, Springboks’ Juan Smith paid tribute.

“This crowd was unbelievable and it was well deserved for a big hero like Victor.

“A start like that is something we want to scratch out pretty quickly. But the boys stuck to their task.”

The final score was in stark contrast to the opening stages when the Springboks looked as if they were on course for a drubbing.

Australia’s Drew Mitchell caused an early scare in second minute, but a video reply showed he grounded the ball just short of the try-line.

The let-off for South Africa did not last long when, just a minute later, Genia wriggled away from Victor Matfield’s challenge to open the Wallabies’ account, with Matt Giteau converting to make it 7-0.

Two minutes on, a slick counter-attack started by Kurtley Beale was finished off by James O’Connor, and South Africa looked in real trouble.

However, they produced the ideal response when Juan Smith executed a well-rehearsed move to score his 11th Test try, but this brief respite was immediately spoiled when O’Connor landed an opportunistic try after Bryan Habana allowed the ball to slip through his hands from the restart.

Giteau converted to make it 21-7 to the visitors – and boos rang out from the home fans.

The jeers had the desired effect and Springbok number eight Pierre Spies cut the gap with a try minutes before the break to make it 28-24.

The momentum was now in the hands of the home team and in the second half a clearly tiring Australia only put three points on the board, while South Africa managed a match-winning 20.

The lead changed hands in the 50th minute when Francois Steyn did well to hang on to a slippery pass from Morne Steyn before throwing himself over the line.

From there on there was only one likely winner. A thumping try-saving tackle by Francois Hougaard on Adam Ashley-Cooper proved symbolic of Springbok dominance over a team which had started to make careless, tired mistakes.

Australia doggedly piled forward, but were unable to find that ruthless cutting edge which had seen them tear apart South Africa’s defence so easily in the first half.

JP Pietersen took the game beyond any doubt when he broke away in the final stages, and substitute kicker Butch James added the final points as the Boks ran out 44-31 winners.

Australia skipper Rocky Elsom reflected on losing control of the game in the second half.

“We got restricted in the second half and it cost us. It was moving so fast that whoever was able to hold onto the ball was going to win and we weren’t able to do that.”

Saints Senior Women’s record a 19-13 win against Waterloo in Kitchener. Saints started the game aggressively and dominantly with pressure instantly applied from the kick off.  Sarnia produced an awesome display in defence with bone crunching tackles and pouncing on any mistakes by the opposition. Saints had the dominance of possession as Waterloo were unable to get a foothold in the game, Pressure paid off with a try from Scrum half Julia Greenshields after a mistake from the waterloo backline allowing the Saints to take an early lead. Further pressure was converted into points with a penalty kick by Lisa Oleniuk.

Saints produced wave upon wave of forward attack maintaining pressure on the opposition and producing beautiful continuity play to advance up field. Many players led by example with remarkable linebreaks causing the defence a lot of confusion, relentless pressure in attack finally paid off with a try from prop Kate Macdonald. The first half drew to a close with a try from Waterloo as well as a penalty to make the interval score 13-8 to Saints.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first with colossal tackles from either side however indiscipline from waterloo at the breakdown allowed Lisa Oleniuk to convert two further penalty kicks giving the Saints an eleven point cushion. With time passing on the clock sustained possession from Waterloo and mounting pressure from a speedy backline caused chaos for the Saints defence as they were unable to deal with the danger of the waterloo attack. As the second half wore on saints conceded a try and a comeback looked promising for the opposition, although a nervy last few minutes proved decisive for the saints with excellent pressure in defence disallowing the opposition the chance to apply further pressure. The final whistle blew with the saints in triumph and a deserving performance to clinch a league final win. Final score Saints- 19 Waterloo -13.

All The Best Of Luck