In a titanic struggle, Australia beat South Africa 11-9 in Wellington on Sunday to to scrape through to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals.
New Zealand beat Argentina 33-10 in Sunday's other quarter-final, so next weekend the All Blacks meet Australia in one semi-final and France will play Wales in the other.
South Africa, fielding their most experienced side in history, dominated possession and territory but could not land the killer blow in a match riddled with basic kicking and handling errors and were thus eliminated from the tournament they won four years ago.
Wallabies captain James Horwill scored the only try of the match in the 12th minute to help his side to an 8-3 lead at halftime.
South Africa's Morne Steyn replied with a penalty and dropped goal in the second half to put the defending champions ahead before James O'Connor kicked the winning penalty after a lineout infringement with eight minutes left.
Springbok error pounced on
The Springboks' physical strength was graphically revealed in two early scrums when they forced the Wallabies to retreat.
But it was Australia who opened the scoring when South Africa won a lineout near their line and loose forward Schalk Burger lost the ball in midfield.
Wallaby No 8 Radike Samo snapped up the ball and fed centre Pat McCabe, who passed to Horwill and the big lock strode through a gap to score.
O'Connor missed the conversion but his 16th-minute penalty took the lead out to 8-0.
Steyn failed with two ambitious long-range kicks, which his injured namesake Francois might have nailed, but succeeded with an easier attempt in between the misses before halftime.
Apparent try ruled out
South Africa went on the attack after the break and fullback Pat Lambie crossed the line for an apparent try but New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence called the teams back for a forward pass by centre Jean de Villiers.
Steyn narrowed the margin with a comfortable penalty then drilled over a dropped goal from straight out in front five minutes later to give his side the lead for the first time.
Australia were pinned in their own half and the errors multiplied with both sides persistently relinquishing possession. With less than 10 minutes to go, however, O'Connor had the chance to put Australia back in front and from 30 metres out he made no mistake.
In the semi-finals Australia will play the winner of the match between New Zealand and Argentina.
De Villiers calls it quits
After the game, the Springbok coach Peter de Villiers called it quits.
De Villiers, who was appointed in 2008, said he believed the Springboks had a bright future, but he would no longer be involved.
As the first non-white Springbok coach, De Villiers was a controversial figure during his tenure, making numerous, and sometimes bizarre, comments in the media.
Scorers
Australia Try: James Horwill. Conversion: James O'Connor. Penalties: O'Connor (2).
South Africa Penalties: Morne Steyn (2). Dropped goal: Steyn.
Referee Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
