Flyhalf Handre Pollard showed why he’s regarded as the Springboks’ premier No 10 with a perfect performance from the kicking tee, as the Springboks got redemption for the defeat to the Wallabies at Ellis Park.

The Boks ran in three tries and denied the Wallabies a losing bonus point as they secured a 30-22 win at the Cape Town Stadium – their first of this year’s Rugby Championship.

It was end-to-end rugby in the first quarter of the Test, with the Springboks up by six points after six minutes courtesy of two Pollard penalties. The Bok pivot surpassed 800 Test points in the process and once again underlined his value to Rassie Erasmus.

But almost immediately afterwards, it was the Australians who scored the first try of the Test courtesy of debutant Corey Toole who rounded off a clever free-kick by scrumhalf Nic White. James O’Connor’s conversion gave the visitors a one-point advantage. That advantage was however quickly erased when Canan Moodie collected a cross-kick from Pollard to dot down in the 11th minute.

When the sit is perfect 😮‍💨#RSAvAU #TheRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/O0AGszwLko

— TheRugbyChampionship (@SanzarTRC) August 23, 2025

After more of an arm-wrestle in the second quarter, Kwagga Smith – who had been drafted into the Bok starting lineup due to the late withdrawal of Jean-Luc du Preez – dotted down under the crossbar for the Boks’ second try of the night. Pollard made no mistake with the conversion to give the hosts a 20-7 lead.

But then on the stroke of halftime, O’Connor kicked a penalty to bring down the deficit to 10 points going into the break.

Coming out of the sheds, it was flashes of Ellis Park as the Wallabies were the first to score after the break courtesy of winger Max Jorgensen, who finished off a beautifully-weighted kick into space that evaded the Bok cover defenders.

Cool as they come 👏#Wallabies pic.twitter.com/RSh8xXB8nM

— Wallabies (@wallabies) August 23, 2025

The error-rate started creeping up significantly in the third quarter, as the players struggled at times to contend with a slippery ball from the wet Cape Town Stadium turf.

Pollard managed to stretch the Boks’ lead to six points in the 57th minute and maintained his perfection off the kicking tee.

The Wallabies got their third try of the night in the 68th minute, when replacement hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa burrowed over the line, but remarkably, O’Connor missed the conversion which could’ve given the visitors the lead with 10 minutes to go in the Test.

The Springboks sealed the victory when replacement lock Eben Etzebeth crashed over for his 8th career try in his 135th Test. Man of the Match Pollard made it a perfect six from the kicking tee on the night.

Next up for the Boks is a double-header away to the All Blacks, starting with the much-hyped Eden Park Test on 6 September.

Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images