The Wallabies have produced arguably their finest comeback in the professional era to defeat the Springboks 38-22 in Johannesburg.

Down 22-0 after 18 minutes, the Australians were all at sea against a rampant Springboks side.

However, the Australians rallied and crossed for 38 unanswered points for their first win in South Africa in over a decade.

It was their first victory at Ellis Park in 62 years, with Harry Wilson crossing for a double.

Flanker Fraser McReight was immense with several turnovers as a deserving player of the match, typifying the Wallabies’ fight in defence.

The world champions were on their game early as they ran away with the win thanks to a powerful first quarter.

It started with Kurt-Lee Arendse diving over on the corner as the Springboks won several contestable kicks early. Manie Libbok’s boot added to the lead before the centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Andre Esterhuizen set up their second try.

Number eight Siya Kolisi continued the onslaught as the captain dived over under the posts for the 22-0 lead.

Then the comeback began as the Wallabies delivered a world-class counter-attacking display to haul the hosts in.

It started through Dylan Pietsch, with the winger diving over untouched, set up by a loping play from Len Ikitau and an O’Connor offload.

The injection of Angus Bell at half-time delivered an instant impact when the prop showed off his hands to put Harry Wilson over untouched.

When Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii snatched an intercept and raced 60 metres, the Wallabies were down by just three and were growing in confidence by the minute.

Stunned, the Springboks kept trying to fire shots and kept being repelled by Wallabies defenders.

It set the platform for Tom Wright to deliver, breaking the line and putting over Wilson for his second and the lead.

Max Jorgensen quickly followed him over, breaking Manie Libbok’s ankles with a sharp step off a beautiful James O’Connor long ball.

It was one of several classy moments from the veteran flyhalf on his return to the Test arena.

Wright then sealed the win with eight minutes to go as he capitalised on a Springboks error.

The win came at a cost, with captain Wilson limping off with injury, while Pietsch came off second best after a heavy collision with Kolisi.

But it’s a win that will go down in history for the Wallabies.

Wallabies 38 (Pietsch, Wilson 2, Suaalii, Jorgensen, Wright tries; O’Connor 4 cons) def Springboks 22 (Arendse, Esterhuizen, Kolisi tries; Libbok 2 cons; Libbok pen)

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 Tane Edmed, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

TMO: Tual Trainini (France)