The Wallabies continued their Suncorp Stadium love affair with an emphatic 30-13 triumph on Saturday night to leave South Africa's Tri-Nations title defence in tatters.

With skipper Rocky Elsom and fellow flanker David Pocock leading the way, Australia ran the ball at will to dominate the opening hour before fading late as the Springboks crossed for two tries.

A bonus-point win appeared at the Wallabies mercy when they led 23-3 early in the second half and held a one-man advantage but the sin-binning of home-town hero Quade Cooper was a momentum stopper.

Kept tryless in their last four Tests at Suncorp Stadium, the Boks gave themselves some hope when centre Jaque Fourie and prop Gurthro Steenkamp crossed for tries to claw back to 23-13.

But stand-out halfback Will Genia, one of three injured stars who returned to Australia's starting side, brought the 44,284-strong Brisbane crowd to their feet when he scampered over to seal victory in the 75th minute.

It meant the defending champion South Africans will return home without a point in the Tri-Nations and all but out of the tournament race.

For the third time in as many Tri-Nations Tests, the winless Boks lost a player to the sin-bin early on when centre Jaque Fourie was yellow carded for a spearing tackle on Richard Brown in the second minute.

But, unlike the red-hot All Blacks, the Wallabies were unable to take advantage, as hard as they tried.

As improved and encouraging as the display was, the Wallabies have plenty of work to do on their finishing.

The All Blacks would have sewn up a bonus point for four tries before the hour mark if they had created as many chances.

"That's what we were after," Elsom said of the run-and-stun attacking display. "That's the style we want to play all the time.

"It's not as easy as it sounds and it didn't go perfectly but we stuck to it." Pocock, the only specialist ball scavenger on the field, was a deserved man-of-the-match award recipient, playing an outstanding role in defence, attack and at the breakdown.

He saved a certain Springbok try late in the first half when he cut down Bryan Habana in the left corner and soon after forced a crucial breakdown penalty on the Australian goal line.

Minutes later winger Drew Mitchell crossed for a clutch try on the last play of the first half to give Australia a 17-3 lead and all the running.

Mitchell, given a reprieve after originally being dumped from the squad, juggled a knocked down Matt Giteau pass three times before grounding the ball to finally convert 40 minutes of sustained pressure against the desperate visitors.

Giteau missed the conversion but looks to have put his goalkicking woes behind him by slotting five from seven.

Unbeaten against the Springboks in Brisbane since the State of Emergency Test of 1971, the Wallabies have now won their past seven matches against South Africa at Suncorp.

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