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Nothing between Wallabies and Springboks in 23-23 draw

The Sea of Blue turned out in their droves as the Wallabies fought out an enthralling 23-23 draw with South Africa in Saturday night's Rugby Championship Test in Perth.

The Wallabies led 20-10 in the 47th minute, courtesy of tries to Kurtley Beale and Tatafu Polota-Nau.

But the home side looked destined for another heartbreaking loss when the Springboks produced a powerful second half to take a 23-20 lead.

Bernard Foley nailed a clutch 40-metre penalty with nine minutes to go to level the scores, and the Wallabies smothered an after-the-siren drop-goal attempt from Elton Jantjies to deny South Africa victory.

The result — just a fortnight after a heartbreaking 35-29 loss to the All Blacks in Dunedin — leaves the Wallabies with a draw and two losses ahead of next week's clash with Argentina in Canberra.

Western Force jerseys dominated the crowd at nib Stadium as fans protested against the axing of their beloved franchise.

The Wallabies' gold was scarce, with only about 15 per cent of the 17,528 crowd donning the national colours.

A chant of "Force, Force" went up before kick-off, and the fans chanted the name of their axed Super Rugby franchise at numerous other times in the game, as well as after the match.

Summary

Chalkboard

Stats

Rugby Championship ladder

AAP

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