It should have never been, but somehow, miraculously, the Wallabies have claimed the most incredible of victories in South Africa, ending a 62-year winless drought and stunning the world champions at their home of rugby, Ellis Park, with a 38-22 win.
Any thoughts of a Wallabies renaissance looked to be quashed within minutes of kick off after the Springboks sent a chilling message in the opening 20-minutes. But despite copping an endless barrage of hammering ball runners and swift backline movements, the Wallabies withstood it all to score 38-unanswered points and send a statement to the rugby world.
Fresh off the back of an impressive win over the British and Irish Lions in Sydney, the Wallabies entered their opening Rugby Championship clash brimming with confidence but also smashed by injuries, as they readied to face a world champion squad prepared to pounce and make a statement to their tournament rivals. Instead, the Springboks were repelled endlessly by a dogged and desperate Wallabies' defence and were sliced to shreds by slippery backline runners as Australia clawed their way back from a 22-point deficit after just 20-minutes.
Questioned by the media for calling up 35-year-old James O'Connor to fill in the vacant fly-half role, Joe Schmidt's move proved a masterstroke as the experienced playmaker kept his cool and stayed the course -- despite being stunned by a quickfire three-try blitz in the opening 18-minutes - as he spotted the spaces on the edges and slowly was able to exploit them later in the clash.
"It was a scratchy first 20 and I could feel the gaps were there [on the edges]," O'Connor told Stan Sport after the match. "The space was there. We probably just, well, I couldn't get the ball to that space in the first 20 and I felt we eased into the game that second 20 minutes of that first half, I felt like we built momentum well and we started to, you know, get some outcomes.
"Halftime we spoke about it. Look, we're in this game, we know we can score points, it's just about trusting what we've built. That belief is strong in us now, you know, we've been building, like you can see in that Lion series, we're building belief, so yeah, doubling down and that's the result. So super proud and yeah, stoked."
Whacking their way through any gold jersey that stood in their way, the Springboks threatened to turn the match into a blood bath, with Wallabies players reeling out of contact, many times with blood coming from their face, as the Boks pummeled their way down the field and out to a strong lead.
So many times before we've witnessed the Wallabies simply roll over and let the game run away from them. But not this time. This time a new edge, a new dogged determination swept over the team as they withstood everything the Springboks could throw at them and sent their own back.
O'Connor spotted and attempted to take advantage of the edge space early, but it wasn't until the 28th minute, after they Wallabies scrapped and battled for possession, that the space finally unlocked with the No.10 combining with Len Ikitau to send Dylan Pietsch into the space and over the try line for the Wallabies first try.
After 30-minutes and 22-5 down, the moment laid the perfect platform for the Wallabies to fight back and secure a win for the ages.
Firing on all cylinders after the break, O'Connor, alongside prop replacement Angus Bell, back-rowers Harry Wilson and Fraser McReight had the forward pack humming and moving forward at the rate of knots. With his first run Bell had defenders slipping off him before he sent Wilson away for his first try of the night after Bell held the ball up just enough to send the rampaging No.8 through the gap and to the whitewash untouched.
As the Springboks attempted to right their ship, they sent endless waves of attack at the Wallabies' defensive line. But Australia refused to breach with Tom Hooper standing tall and winning a huge penalty less than five metres from the line.
Minutes later Joesph-Aukuso Suaali pinched a floating pass midfield and sprinted away to score the team's third, before Wilson was over for his second after Tom Wright picked up a loose ball and skipped his way downfield before finding his captain in support. For the first time the Wallabies were in front 26-22 and the usually raucous crowd were left silent.
The greater the Wallabies confidence grew, the more mistakes the Springboks made in scenes that are rarely witnessed from the world champions. Balls started to go to ground, cleaners were late to breakdowns, and a sloppy desperation began to take over.
Meanwhile, Australia continued to grow. Despite a laceration to his leg, Ikitau returned to the pitch and continued to produce attacking gold, Wright was an elusive threat before scoring the decisive final try, while Max Jorgensen added a try to his tally with an incredible solo effort down the left sideline in another spectacular night for the 20-year-old.
Despite being battered and bruised, the forward pack continued to bash their way forward with McReight earning a potentially match-saving penalty in the 72nd minute, in what was a man of the match performance, while Nick Frost's work at the lineout was a game changer for the Wallabies with their set-piece keeping them in the clash for much of the first half.
"I thought Fraser was the outstanding," Schmidt said on Stan Sport. "There was a couple of times I felt we were really on our heels and just struggling to hang in there and he poached a couple of really big turnovers, got a couple cleanouts, got a really important penalty at one stage as well.
"But I thought there was a whole host of guys who really played well tonight, particularly in the back half of the game, after a pretty horrendous start. We got a couple of lucky breaks; a couple of breaking balls bounced our way, and I thought the players finished them really well.
"Frosty's growing into his role all the time. He's obviously calling the line out and there was a couple of times we got turned over, but I felt we got good pressure on their line out as well, and big Will gives him a little bit of confidence as well just his calmness and his experience.
"I think that Will and Frosty have built up a pretty good rapport and Jeremy Williams was very good coming off the bench again as he was in the third Test in Sydney against the British and Irish Lions."
Schmidt will now have to count the coast of his historic victory, however, with Wilson and Pietsch both taken from the pitch. While Schmidt was positive his captain would bounce back from a suspected knee injury he sustained as he scored his second try, it appears Pietsch could be a long-term out, with the wing suffering a suspected broken jaw. They add to what seems an ever-growing injury ward with Hamish Stewart already flying into camp to cover Ben Donaldson.
But before the analysis begins, Schmidt and his Wallabies will soak in the moment and bask in the knowledge they claimed a victory that will go down as one of the greatest Australia has ever earned.
"I'm just relieved. I'm very much on the periphery. I get to see these guys working up close and I know how much it means to them," Schmidt said. "They're incredibly proud of the gold jersey that they wear and the bond that they're forming between them.
"I'm just blown away a little bit by the way they stayed in the game because their 22-nil down after 20 minutes, gee, it would be easy to fall out of the game."