James O'Connor and his Wallabies teammates were unable to make it two from two in their tour of South Africa, defeated by the Springboks 30-22 in Round 2 of the Rugby Championship.
The Leicester Tigers recruit added two conversions and a penalty goal in the ten-point defeat, playing the entire 80 minutes at fly-half for Australia against the man he will replace in the East Midlands, Handré Pollard.
Two penalties for Pollard took the 'Boks out to a 6-0 lead before a Wallabies try for Corey Toole, converted by O'Connor, made it 6-7 after nine minutes.
South Africa took back the lead almost immediately with their first try, before a second late in the first half, making it 20-7 with 35 minutes played.
O'Connor added a penalty goal to cut the deficit to ten points, 20-10, at half time.
Max Jorgensen scored early in the second half for Australia, which O'Connor converted, to make it 20-17 before a Pollard penalty goal in the 57th minute made it 23-17.
The Wallabies got to within one point, 23-22, when Brandon Paenga-Amosa crossed in the 68th minute before South Africa added a late try and Pollard converted the score to see it finish 30-22.
Australia now returns home for back-to-back home games against Argentina - featuring former Leicester Tigers hooker Julián Montoya - in Rounds 3 and 4, before a final fortnight of games against New Zealand.
