The Springboks were humbled in spectacular embarrassing fashion at the hands of Australia in their Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus’s men led 22-0 after just 18 minutes and 22-5 at half-time, but ultimately had no answer in the second half, going down 38-22.
It was Australia’s second win in 12 matches at Ellis Park, and their first since 1963.
The sides will do battle for a second time at the Cape Town Stadium next weekend.
The Springboks also lost their No 1 ranking, slipping to THIRD place behind new No 1 side, the All Blacks, and Ireland who now occupy second place.
UPDATED WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS
| Ranking | Team | Points |
| 1 | New Zealand | 92.06 |
| 2 | Ireland | 89.83 |
| 3 | South Africa | 89.78 |
| 4 | France | 87.82 |
| 5 | England | 87.64 |
| 6 | Australia | 85.08 |
| 7 | Argentina | 82.05 |
| 8 | Scotland | 81.57 |
| 9 | Fiji | 80.50 |
| 10 | Italy | 77.77 |
| 11 | Georgia | 74.69 |
| 12 | Wales | 74.05 |
| 13 | Samoa | 72.48 |
| 14 | Japan | 72.29 |
| 15 | Spain | 69.12 |
| 16 | USA | 68.45 |
| 17 | Uruguay | 67.52 |
| 18 | Portugal | 66.44 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.46 |
| 20 | Chile | 63.83 |
TEAMS
South Africa
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse
Australia
15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway
The biggest reason for the Springboks’ defeat was … ?
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