MELBOURNE • Australia coach Dave Rennie praised his team's "courage" after their bonus-point 30-17 Rugby Championship win over South Africa yesterday to puncture the world champions' aura for the second time in a week.

Having upset the Springboks 28-26 on the Gold Coast last Sunday with a Quade Cooper penalty after the siren, the Wallabies' running game shone in the Lang Park twilight in Brisbane as centre Len Ikitau and winger Marika Koroibete each scored two tries.

Koroibete's second put the Australians 13 points up with 12 minutes left and they defended brilliantly to the finish, winning two turnovers in front of their posts.

South Africa managed one try, through centre Lukhanyo Am after half-time, but drew two yellow cards in a flat performance before they head into back-to-back Tests against New Zealand.

In the later match, the All Blacks snatched the Springboks' world No. 1 ranking and put one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy after subjecting Argentina to a second successive thrashing.

Their 36-13 bonus-point win extended their lead to 10 points over second-placed South Africa (10), while ensuring that Argentina (0) and Australia (9) have no chance of winning the championship.

"I'm really proud of our guys because we wanted to back up last week's performance with another good one," said Rennie before the Kiwis' victory at the same venue.

"A lot of courage tonight and pretty clinical when it counted."

Australia opened the tournament with back-to-back drubbings by New Zealand but they have clicked into gear with inside centre Samu Kerevi transforming their attack, although they are now out of the running for the title.

South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber apologised to fans and said it was his side's worst performance since they were shocked 32-19 by Argentina in Mendoza in 2018.

"We were really beaten. We got hands-down beaten in everything - defence, kicking game, attack," he told reporters.

"This isn't a performance that was worthy enough for a Springboks performance."

Australia skipper Michael Hooper was at his tireless best as he notched up a Wallabies-record 60th cap as captain, breaking George Gregan's mark.

The only sour point for the hosts was a broken arm for full-back Tom Banks, who came off second best in a first-half tackle with winger Sbu Nkosi.

"We talked a lot about going back-to-back here," said Hooper.

"We absolutely love playing up here in front of the crowd... Couldn't be happier right now."

The win means that the Wallabies have now clinched consecutive victories for the first time since 2019, while the Springboks have lost two straight matches for the first time since 2017.

It was also the first time that the South Africans have conceded two or more tries in a Test since the World Cup in 2019, in which they lost their pool opener to New Zealand before advancing to win their third Webb Ellis Cup.

"I thought we didn't take our opportunities at the end and we ran out of steam," Springboks captain Siya Kolisi told Fox Sports.

"But they were really good today. They played to the last couple of minutes and they took every opportunity they got."

REUTERS