On paper, this ought to have been a classic, and in many ways it was: eight tries, one of them in the last minute to win a game for South Africa that they appeared to have lost. Nevertheless, all would have remained peaceful on the All Blacks sofa.

Australia needed to win this match by 26 points and score at least four tries in the process to pip New Zealand to the Tri Nations title. They never looked like doing either, even if a late try by replacement Brendan Cannon briefly rendered the latter task possible. Thus the All Blacks will probably have been well into their celebrations by the time Werner Greeff went over at the death to clinch the Springboks a well-deserved first victory in this year's Tri Nations.

The challenge facing Australia was a daunting one before a ball had been kicked, with Johannesburg renowned as one of the hardest places to win, let alone by 26 points. Their cause, however, was helped when André Pretorius, the talented young fly-half and goal-kicker, had to withdraw from the Springbok team hours before kick-off with a knee injury. He was replaced by Brent Russell, who dovetailed neatly with the other precocious talents around him that are making this South Africa team an increasingly pleasurable one to watch, despite their results this season.

The atmosphere in Ellis Park was more joyous than intimidating yesterday, as well it might be. There was nothing for South African rugby to lose, particularly after the unsavoury scenes in Durban last weekend when a Springbok fan invaded the field to assault the referee. It was not clear if Peter van Zyl was present again yesterday, but if he was he was either dealt with by the authorities or satisfied with South Africa's performance.

It may well have been the latter. Despite Greeff and Russell each missing a straightforward penalty kick in the opening minutes, and Matt Burke kicking three for Australia to give the visitors a 9-0 lead, South Africa held the advantage in territory and possession, with Janus Laubuschagne ruling the line-out, and they were playing the more incisive rugby.

It was not until the end of the first half, however, that their efforts were rewarded. Breyton Paulse darted over under the posts for the game's first try, before Russell broke through Daniel Herbert's tackle and out-paced Chris Latham to earn the Springboks a 14-9 half-time lead.

Things got better after the break with Paulse going over again, followed by a rampant Joe Van Niekerk scoring after great work by Bobby Skinstad.

That, though, triggered the Australia comeback. With South Africa down to 14 men after De Wet Barry was sent to the sin bin, they surged back into the game with tries from Mat Rogers and Toutai Kefu to pull the score back to 26-23.

South Africa were unable to get their hands on the ball by now, but their defence was proving difficult to break down, so George Gregan slotted a drop goal to draw things level. Nevertheless it seemed inevitable that Australia took the lead, all the more so when Marius Joubert was sent off for a high tackle. When Cannon was put over in the 75th minute, after George Smith had nicked a Springbok line-out and raced to within five metres of the tryline, the game seemed over.

But the Springboks had one last lash left in them, and after another Skinstad run, when the hooter had gone, Greef picked a wonderful line off the ensuing ruck to make Ellis Park's joy complete.

South Africa: Greeff; Paulse, Joubert, Barry, Hall (Terblanche 70); Russell, De Kock (Conradie 62); Sephaka, Dalton (Le Roux 52), Meyer (Rautenbach 52), Laubuschagne, Venter, Krige (capt; Schotz 50), Van Niekerk, Skinstad (capt).

Australia: Latham (Rogers 60); Tune, Burke, Herbert, Mortlock; Larkham, Gregan (capt); Young, Paul (Cannon 56), Darwin, Sharpe, Harrison (Cockbain 50), Finegan (Lyons 50), Smith, Kefu.

Referee: P O'Brien (New Zealand).

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