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Watch Australia Vs. South Africa Rugby Highlights: Full Wrap-Up, Australia Break Historic Losing Streak With 23-17 Win

By Jonathan Vankin
Published on: 13:49 PST, Sep 9, 2016

The Australia Wallabies battled the South Africa Springboks for survival in the 2016 four-nation Rugby Championship tournament in an international rugby union Test match on Saturday as the hosts managed their first win in the competition and ended a six-match losing streak, scoring a 23-17 victory over the Springboks in Brisbane.

Australia hads already suffered defeat in their first two Rugby Championship matches, losing both times to arch-rival New Zealand. And to make matters worse, the Wallabies were crushed on both occasions, losing 42-8 on August 20 and 29-9 one week later.

Earlier in the year, Australia suffered a whitewash in a three-match series against visiting England. A seventh loss on the trot would equal the most consecutive defeats ever by an Australia side.

Nonetheless, Australia Coach Michael Cheka made just one change to his beleaguered back row, with Dean Mumm coming in for Scott Fardy at blindside. But the combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper, known by the rather unflattering collective nickname “Pooper,” remains intact for the South Africa match.

For the ‘Boks, Coach Allister Coetzee was more liberal with his side, bringing in Francois Hougaard, Juan de Jongh, and Jesse Kriel as Damian de Allende and Lionel Mapoe will sit, Bryan Habana switches to right flank, and Ruan Combrinck misses out due to injury.

Australia split their first two matches with Argentina, winning 30-23 on August 20, but falling 26-24 the following week.

Watch highlights of the Australia vs. South Africa Rugby Championship Test match at 52,500-seat Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia in the video below.

And watch a full wrap-up of the Saturday Rugby Championship action, with the panel of Xola Ntshinga, Nick Mallett, Jean de Villiers, Naas Botha and Ashwin Willems in the video below.

For rugby fans in the United States, the live stream gets underway at 6:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 3:05 a.m. Pacific, while Springboks supporters in South Africa can log in at 12:05 p.m. South Africa Standard Time.

Here is the starting side for South Africa:

15-Johan Goosen, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Juan de Jongh, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Elton Jantjies, 9-Faf de Klerk; 8-Warren Whiteley, 7-Oupa Mahoje, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Lood de Jager, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Lourens Adriaanse, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira.

The Australia starting XV looks like this:

15-Israel Folau, 14-Dane Haylett-Petty, 13-Samu Kerevi, 12-Bernard Foley, 11-Reece Hodge, 10-Quade Cooper, 9-Will Genia, 8-David Pocock, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Dean Mumm, 5-Adam Coleman, 4-Kane Douglas, 3-Sekope Kepu, 2-Stephen Moore, 1-Scott Sio.

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Rugby fans who miss the game due to the early-morning start time can catch a full replay of the game via ESPN3 at this link.

ESPN3, the free, online-only network of sports giant ESPN, will carry the Australia Vs. South Africa Rugby Championship Test match live stream, with online video from Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Click on this link to watch the two rugby powerhouse nations square off with survival in the annual four-nation tournament on the line, streaming for free on a computer — or on mobile and set-top devices with ESPN3 via the WatchESPN app.

ESPN3 is free to subscribers of almost any major internet service provider and dozens of smaller ISPs. For a complete list, check this link, or try the instructions at this link if you do not have an account with an ISP that carries ESPN3.

Cricket fans in Australia can catch the live stream of their struggling national Rugby Union team’s Rugby Championship clash against the Springboks via the FoxTel Play service available at this link. The service, which normally costs a subscription fee of $50 (Australian) per month, now offers a two-week free trial, allowing fans to watch the last match of the Australia vs. South Africa Rugby Championship Test match at no charge.

[Photo by AP Images]

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