South Africa too strong for  Australia in Rugby championship

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.

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