South Africa too strong for Australia in Rugby championship

The reigning World Cup champions scored the game's only four tries in front of 58,197 fans. South Africa scored three second-half tries Saturday to hand Australia a second loss in two weeks, beating the Wallabies 30-12 in a rain-soaked Rugby Championship match. South Africa, which led 11-9 at halftime, outclassed the Wallabies 33-7 last Saturday in Brisbane to hand Australia its first defeat of the season after three wins. The Springboks went ahead 18-9 in the 43rd minute Saturday and after a Wallabies penalty goal increased its lead to 23-12 when hooker Malcolm Marx rolled over from a driving maul in the 64th minute. They scored their final try with six minutes remaining when Marx again scored from a maul with the Wallabies playing a man short before more than 58,000 fans in Perth. South Africa split a two-match series at home with Ireland and beat Portugal before heading to Australia. The Wallabies had two wins over Wales and a victory over Georgia to start Joe Schmidt’s reign as coach. ➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.