The Springboks clicked into gear in the second half to beat the Wallabies 35-17 at Ellis Park on Saturday.
But it could have been a totally different story if the visitors from Australia made the most of their first-half chances.
With the Wallabies having had a try disallowed and Dane Haylett-Petty also knocking on a ball in-goal, the scoreboard at half time could have read much different to the 14-10 scoreline in favour of South Africa.
Coach Rassie Erasmus’s men then made full use of their lifeline and led by scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who dotted down twice in what was a dream debut, they showed a killer instinct that was missing for most of last season.
It was the Stormers’ No.9 who got the ball rolling when he scored SA’s first try of the 2019 season, 10 minutes into his international career, after great work on the ground by No.8 Francois Louw won the Boks a turnover.
From there centre Andre Esterhuizen pulled in the defence before unleashing Sbu Nkosi down the right touchline.
Nkosi then found Jantjies on his inside, with the 23-year-old sprinting home.
Congratulations to our three Springbok debutants today. Rynhardt, Herschel and Lizo are now Boks #912, #913 and #914 respectively. #Respect #StrongerTogether #RSAvAus pic.twitter.com/0sIS1Ustkj
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 20, 2019
It wasn’t plain-sailing for the hosts, though, as their quick line speed on defence meant there was a chance for the Aussie on attack.
They had their line broken twice in the 18th minute, with Samu Kerevi bursting through the midfield before his final pass went forward and the Aussies had a try disallowed.
One lifeline used.
Three minutes after that, Esterhuizen was sent to the cooler for a high tackle.
Down a man, the Boks didn’t give up and scored their second try of the match when Jantjies found Pieter-Steph du Toit on the blindside.
STRETCHED: S’bu Nkosi dots down SA's fourth try. Photo: Willem Loock/BackpagePix.
The flanker then gave a delightful chip kick which was gathered by the scrumhalf, before he was stopped.
Lock, Lood de Jager then scored from the ruck to make it 14-3.
Australia then got their first try when Bongi Mbonambi and Beast Mtawarira were penalised for being offside.
The Aussies went for touch and from there sucked in the Boks’ man-down backline for Haylett-Petty to score (14-10).
Five minutes later Haylett-Petty should have had his second when he chased down a kick, but knocked-on the ball in-goal.
Second escape.
Wallaby prop Taniela Tupou made sure that the momentum stayed with South Africa 14 minutes after the break when he was yellow carded for a silly cleanout of Rynhardt Elstadt at a ruck five metres from the Aussie tryline.
The Boks went for touch from there and took the ball wide for Sbu Nkosi to stretch their lead to 21-10.
NAIL IN THE COFFIN: Cobus Reinach got the Springboks' fifth try. Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix.
Seven minutes later, Jantjies had the final say in the matter when he took the game away from the Aussies, expertly sniping down the short side to touch down in the corner untouched (28-10).
With 10 minutes to go, Aussie replacement Kurtley Beale then provided a moment of magic when he broke the Bok line to set Bernard Foley free for a try under the sticks (28-17).
But it was South Africa and their scrumhalves that had the last laugh when replacement Cobus Reinach dotted down with regular play time a thing of the past (35-17).