Kurtley Beale's penalty with the last kick of the game not only secured a dramatic 41-39 victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein, but also sees Australia climb above their hosts into second place in the IRB World Rankings.

Australia had led 31-6 midway through the first half, but the world champions came fighting back and it took a 56-metre effort from full back Beale to secure a first win at altitude in South Africa since 1963.

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South Africa had gone into the penultimate match of the 2010 Tri Nations with a 2.23 rating point cushion over their visitors, but Australia's win sees them take over second spot for the first time since a brief one-week stay in September 2008.

The Wallabies, for whom victory was only their second away Tri Nations win in 22 attempts, now sit nearly eight tenths above South Africa as they prepare to face already crowned Tri Nations champions New Zealand in Sydney at the weekend.

South Africa's fall in the rankings means that New Zealand have increased their advantage at the top to 8.25 points, although this still leaves them over a point shy of their biggest ever margin - 9.41 over France in June 2007 - since the rankings were introduced in October 2003.

The Springboks are now guaranteed to finish bottom of the Tri Nations table with only one victory in their title defence, but still lie 2.47 rating points above France, the leading northern hemisphere nation, in the IRB World Rankings.