South Africa finished runners-up at the SVNS World Championship in Valladolid, when they were denied a last-gasp try that would have sent the final against Australia into extra-time.
South Africa thought they had forced the decider into extra-time when Shilton van Wyk scored under the posts in the final play of the match. However, the TMO alerted the referee to a debatable forward pass, handing Australia a 26-19 victory.
The result saw South Africa’s men move to 38 points in the race for the World Championship title, with Australia on 30. Argentina are second on 34 after beating Fiji in the third-place playoff.
The final event of the season takes place in Bordeaux next weekend.
They had reached the final by fighting back from 7-5 down at half-time to brat Argentina 19-7 in the semi-final.
After scoring only 12 tries in five matches at the tournament, the South African attack clicked in the final.
First, Selvyn Davids broke from a scrum and sent Van Wyk away to score. A minute later, Sebastiaan Jobb scorched over, with Tristan Leyds again adding the extras as they raced into a 14-0 lead.
Australia hit back through Josh Turner after sustained pressure before Ethan McFarland burst through the defence in the final play of the half. Maurice Longbottom slotted a difficult conversion to level the scores.
South Africa then suffered a setback early in the second half when Leyds was yellow-carded for a cynical infringement.
Australia made the extra man count as Ben Dowling and Henry Hutchison scored in quick succession to open up a 26-14 lead.
Turner was then red-carded for a high tackle before Gino Cupido crossed to cut the deficit to seven and give South Africa hope. They thought they had completed a stunning comeback with Van Wyk’s late score under the posts, but it was ruled out.