Angry coach Ewen McKenzie blamed his bench for letting down his gutsy starters after the Wallabies wilted when history beckoned against South Africa at Newlands.
Australia were on the cusp of their greatest win under McKenzie, leading 10-8 with 11 minutes left, but unravelled through a loss of composure and a string of errors in Saturday night's gripping Rugby Championship clash.
South Africa pounced, storming home with three tries, to retain the Mandela Plate and Test rugby's No.2 ranking with a flattering 28-10 victory.
Extremely proud of his starting team's efforts, McKenzie pointed the finger at his bench players who failed miserably in matching the impact of their Springbok counterparts.
While the likes of Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, JP Pietersen and Pat Lambie were match-winners for the Boks, the Wallabies reserves delivered most of their biggest errors.
Ben Alexander, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Kurtley Beale, Rob Horne and James Hanson were all guilty of costly mistakes.
"I actually felt for the players who set the game up, I thought they did a really good job," McKenzie said. "That's probably going to get lost in the final scoreline unfortunately.
"I thought we showed a lot of character. That's why the finish is hard to take."
McKenzie bluntly said his bench should have been more composed.
"They're all pretty experienced players," he said. "I don't think there's any reason not to expect that you're going to maintain composure as you go along."
But the Wallabies were also guilty of failing to make the most of their attacking chances in the first half, particularly with some aimless kicking, when ahead 10-5.
Big centre Tevita Kuridrani and tireless flanker Scott Fardy led the way for the underdogs dreaming of ending a 22-year drought in Cape Town.
As good as their defence was for 70 minutes, Australia couldn't contain the home side once five-eighth Lambie slotted the clutch field goal after 29 absorbing phases for an 11-10 lead.
Newlands then erupted when favourite son Jean de Villiers, the Boks captain in his last home city Test, crossed for his first of two counter-attacking five-pointers.
"To let in three tries at the end was a really disappointing finish and probably an unfair reflection on the contribution the team had put in across that 70 minutes," McKenzie said.
The coach now has an unpalatable 1-1-6 record in matches against the Boks and All Blacks.
Rubbing salt into the wounds, Matt Toomua (concussion) is unlikely to play Argentina in Mendoza next weekend while forwards Rob Simmons (head knock) and Ben McCalman (shoulder) are also in doubt.
Seen as easy meat by the local press, Australia's maligned pack had stood up by gaining parity at the set pieces and winning the breakdown battle.
The Wallabies took their five-point lead into the break thanks to a brilliant Adam Ashley-Cooper try.
Quick hands by Toomua and Israel Folau put Kuridrani into space and he busted through Bryan Habana and Handre Pollard before superbly dishing off to Ashley-Cooper.
"I thought he (Kuridrani) was outstanding," McKenzie said. "He knocked them around. He bounced them backwards and made inroads."
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