MATCH SUMMARY South Africa: 33 (23) Tries: De Villiers, Pretorius, Fourie Cons: Montgomery 3 Pens: Montgomery 4 Australia: 20 (8) Tries: Lyons, Mortlock, Paul Con: Mortlock Pen: Giteau

Interception tries from centre Jean de Villiers and wing Bryan Habana helped the Springboks to a 23-8 interval lead.

David Lyons crossed for Australia but Jaque Fourie's converted try after the resumption kept the hosts in command.

Percy Montgomery kicked 18 points in all before late consolation tries from Stephen Larkham and Jeremy Paul.

Although Australia won the reverse fixture in Sydney a fortnight ago, victory was enough for South Africa to level the series and retain the trophy.

Great tackling was the key factor. We trained hard for 10 days and got our reward Springboks captain John Smit

The Wallabies had only won once on seven previous visits to Ellis Park, and in front of a partisan crowd celebrating Nelson Mandela's birthday, never looked like improving that record.

Montgomery rewarded an early Springboks blitz with a penalty, only for Matt Giteau to cancel it out with one.

But the hosts' ferocious defence brought two interception tries within eight minutes.

The first, in the 13th minute, saw De Villiers scoop up Larkham's pass out of a tackle and sprint 70m to the line.

Habana scored his 10th try in only his eighth Test

Montgomery converted and added a penalty for a 13-3 lead before the capacity crowd were on their feet again.

This time fly-half Andre Pretorius intercepted a Stirling Mortlock flick and with full-back Chris Latham catching him, threw a superb pass for Habana to scorch over.

Montgomery's second conversion made it 20-3, but Australia hit back strongly in the 10 minutes before half-time.

South Africa conceded five penalties under pressure but Australia refused kicks at goal, and Springboks wing Breyton Paulse was sent to the sin-bin for repeated infringement.

We never recovered from conceding those tries against the run of play Australia captain George Gregan

The visitors eventaully manufactured a try for Lyons but Montgomery added another long-range penalty to give the Springboks a handsome 23-8 interval lead.

South Africa were reduced to 13 men a minute into the second half when Schalk Burger, on as a replacement, was yellow-carded after catching Rocky Elsom with a flailing arm.

But with the home jumpers winning five line-outs in a row on Australia's throw, the home side made light of their handicap.

I am going for a Boks win next week in much the same fashion, should the Boks not have any injuries From KS Have your say on Scrum V

A De Villiers break and inside pass sent centre partner Fourie charging over, Montgomery's conversion bringing up 30 points.

The Springboks might have scored further tries as replacement scrum-half Fourie du Preez knocked on over the line and flanker Juan Smith was held up.

Montgomery landed another penalty before Larkham sprinted away for Australia's second try with nine minutes left.

Paul also crossed in the dying moments to put a more flattering gloss on the scoreline, a week before the teams open the Tri-Nations in Pretoria.

South Africa: Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Andre Pretorius, Ricky Januarie, Gurthro Steenkamp, John Smit (captain), Eddie Andrews, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Solly Tyibilika, Juan Smith, Joe van Niekerk.
Replacements: Hanyani Shimange, Lawrence Sephaka, Albert van den Berg, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Jaco van der Westhuyen, Wayne Julies.

Australia: Chris Latham, Wendell Sailor, Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan (captain); Bill Young, Jeremy Paul, Al Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom, George Smith, David Lyons.
Replacements: Stephen Moore, Matt Dunning, Daniel Vickerman, Phil Waugh, Chris Whitaker, Morgan Turinui, Drew Mitchell.