'Man of the Century' Marika Koroibete simply incredible in Wallabies' Adelaide win

Man-of-the-match? "He's my Man of the Century."

That was how Andrew Mehrtens described Marika Koroibete when the Wallabies winger received a well-earned early shower at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon, having inspired Australia to a morale-boosting 25-17 win over the Springboks.

Koroibete, simply, was magnificent and while it may be too early to declare him "Man of the Century" as Mehrtens suggested, he reaffirmed his status as Australia's key strike weapon with a series of match-turning plays as the Wallabies got their Rugby Championship campaign back on track following a disastrous outing in San Juan.

"Massive, he's a big part of our team," Wallabies captain James Slipper said post match of Koroibete. "He's a real character and the boys really love playing with him.

"He's probably the hardest trainer I've ever seen, and some of the stuff he does on the footy field is just phenomenal. One thing I know about Marika is that he's going to put his body on the line, not only for his teammates but for his country and the jersey.

"He's a player we all enjoy having in our squad, for sure, he picks us up."

Crucially, the Wallabies were awake from the opening whistle. After Reece Hodge tapped the ball back from Nic White's kick-off, Australia moved the ball quickly through the phases before a classy Tom Wright offload set Rob Valetini on a run down the right touchline.

Two quick recycles following runs from Len Ikitau and then Folau Fainga'a allowed Nic White to shift the ball once more to Allan Alaalatoa, the prop then producing a delightful tip-on pass that put Fraser McReight in next to the sticks.

After a run of dreadful openings, this was the dream start Australia were after.

Fly-half Noah Lolesio then added a penalty to take the Wallabies out to a 10-0 after the opening quarter, albeit after two uncharacteristic misses from Handre Pollard, who did not have a happy night and was eventually hooked midway through the second half.

Pollard would eventually split the sticks and the visitors applied huge pressure to the Wallabies' line thereafter, but Australia was somehow able to thwart their advances, even after Tom Wright was sin-binned for offside when Faf de Klerk attempted to take a quick tap.

South Africa had enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory for much of the second quarter, but just couldn't find a way to crack the Australian line; that was until Makazole Mapimpi for all money looked to have a clear run to the left-hand corner.

But charging as if he had been "shot out of a cannon", a moment again perfectly captured by Mehrtens for Stan Sport, Koroibete sprinted with the power of a bull in Pamplona, and walloped the Springboks winger into touch.

It will go down as one of the great tackles in Wallabies' history; George Gregan, in fact, may at last have a challenger for his effort on Jeff Wilson in the unforgettable 1994 Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney.

Koroibete was immediately mobbed by his teammates and while there were some suggestions the Wallabies winger might not have wrapped his arm, referee Paul Williams and his associates were satisfied the left appendage was extended at the point of impact.

If the momentum of the match hadn't been shifted there and then, Faf de Klerk's sin-binning ensured it would be, so too that social media would erupt with discussion about White's decision to hit the deck after the South African's stray arm.

While there was no doubt de Klerk had clipped White on the chin with his right arm at the back of the scrum, the Wallabies scrum-half's decision to lay down after the incident in the hope of earning a penalty will be a huge talking point this week.

For a game that often looks down its nose at football, White's act was something you'd expect to see in the English Premier League, not the Rugby Championship.

But it certainly achieved its desired outcome as de Klerk was not only penalised, but then also sent to the sin-bin -- de Klerk left in disbelief -- as the Wallabies were able to scramble their way to halftime having barely sighted the Springboks' half beyond the 20-minute mark.

Having composed themselves at the break, Australia came out up a man to the good and at last secured some possession and territory.

Cue Koroibete once more.

Using their one-man advantage, Australia exposed South Africa on the edge as a sweeping White pass hit a flying Wright, who made good ground downfield before turning the ball back inside to Reece Hodge. With the Springboks backpedaling, Ikitau opened up the defence in midfield, before Lolesio shifted the ball onto Koroibete from the next phase.

After Pollard's lacklustre first half, the last thing the Springboks No. 10 needed was for the Fijian to put him in tangles. But that was exactly what Koroibete did, as he shudder-stepped and scooted round to Pollard's right to give the Wallabies a 12-point buffer.

Koroibete was then at it again as he chased through hard on a Hunter Paisami kick following a turnover from Fraser McReight. Taking the kick-off, Koroibete heaved the ball back inside to Valetini, who took off into the heart of the Springboks defence.

In midfield, it was the perfect position for a play that is straight out of the Brumbies playbook. But where it was usually Tom Banks cutting back on the angle from James Slipper, this time it was Lolesio who sprinted through untouched -- the fly-half's line masked by the Wallabies' ruck -- and then offloaded to McReight for the flanker's second five-pointer.

While the flick-pass nature of Lolesio's offload likely won't have impressed Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, the set play stunner brought the Adelaide Oval crowd to its feet and Australia's 22-3 lead looked like a margin too great for the out-of-sorts Springboks to reel in.