Wallabies still think game is only 40 minutes long, Beale saves the day.

NSW Waratah Kurtley Beale has snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat the Wallabies clearly tried so hard to obtain. Beale slotted a penalty goal from near halfway on fulltime to beat the Springboks 41-39 in Bloemfontein to end the Wallabies 47-year drout at high altitude grounds.

It was an extraordinary finish to the match as the Wallabies blew a huge 31-6 advantage they held just before halftime before they regrouped.

Instead of despair at the death with the Springboks leading 39-38, fullback Beale turned the night into triumph. He was swamped by a tide of gold as his kick curled over the bar after he had slotted it from an acute angle from 49m out.

“I knew I hit it with the sweet spot. I couldn’t let the boys down . . . it’s a great feeling,” Beale enthused after his matchwinner.

The kick of his life, after English referee Wayne Barnes had found a penalty at the breakdown, grabbed the Nelson Mandela Plate 2-1 for the Test battles between the two countries this season.

It was a classy response from Beale who just minutes earlier had suffered the indignity of slipping and seeing a Quade Cooper pass bounce off his forehead and into the arms of a Springbok attacker.

Great credit goes to the tenacity of the Wallabies and their desperate tackling over the final 11 minutes because they played 10 of those a man down after replacement hooker Saia Faingaa had been yellow-carded for a dangerous spear tackle on Springbok lock Flip van der Merwe.

Fellow ‘tah Drew Mitchell also enjoyed a good game in his 50th Test, steaming over under the posts for a try. Even that 38-36 edge to the Australians was not enough with eight minutes to play because Steyn booted another penalty goal at the 76-minute mark to snatch it back 39-38.

But Beale’s kick on full time was the difference, with Australia taking the Mandela plate 2-1.

Australia 41 (K Beale, J O’Connor, S Moore, R Elsom, D Mitchell tries: M Giteau 4 conv, pen goal, J O’Connor conv, K Beale pen goal) b South Africa 39 (J Fourie, G Steenkamp, J de Villiers tries; M Steyn 3 conv, 6 pen goals) Halftime: 31-13 Australia