Morné Steyn and Rocky Elsom (AP)

Related Links What French team will pitch up? Wales duo in fitness check All Black stars in booze binge

Wellington - Australia derailed South Africa's bid to defend their World Cup title in an error-ridden 11-9 quarter-final victory here on Sunday despite enjoying little territory and not much in the way of useful possession.

Click to BUY the new FIFA 12 game

Click to BUY the new Drifta Mobile USB Decoder

The Wallabies spent much of the game on the back foot, the misfiring Quade Cooper unable to guide his side out of his own half for much of the 80 minutes.

But a first-half try from captain James Horwill and two James O'Connor penalties, the second with just eight minutes to play, were enough to see Australia home against the most experienced Springbok side ever - boasting eight players who began the 2007 World Cup final, with a further three on the bench.

Experience alone, however, could not carry the often leaden-footed Springbok side lacking any attacking spark into next weekend's semi-final against the winners of Sunday's other last eight clash between New Zealand and Argentina.

Early exchanges were dominated by aerial ping-pong, a lot of which was inaccurate and often lacked an effective supporting chase-game.

New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence's unfathomably liberal take on the breakdown made for some ugly viewing, and on countless occasions hands in rucks and players flying in from all directions went unpunished.

A punishing tackle by Radiko Samo on Schalk Burger in the 11th minute saw the ball squirt free, the Australian No 8 recovering to offload to Pat McCabe who in turn found Horwill in support to crash over.

With their heads up, Wallaby fullback Kurtley Beale split the defence from the restart, but hooker Stephen Moore was not quick enough to evade the fine covering tackle by Burger.

O'Connor kicked an easy penalty in the 17th minute as the Springboks failed to convert their monopoly on territory into points.

With star Springbok fetcher Heinrich Brüssow taken off the pitch injured, Australia openside David Pocock forced a number of crucial turnovers but Cooper was in erratic form and could not steer the Wallabies upfield.

Morné Steyn missed a 50-metre penalty as the Boks pressed, with Bryan Habana hauled down after cutting back inside and fellow wing JP Pietersen was bundled down with the line beckoning.

Steyn spurned a second shot of goal to kick for the corner, but the ruck from the ensuing lineout saw another dubious turnover.

The flyhalf finally got South Africa on the scoreboard with a 39th minute penalty after Pocock was properly adjudged to have handled at a ruck in front of the posts.

But a third effort from halfway fell short, the Boks ruing the absence through injury of long-range specialist Frans Steyn.

The Springboks opened the second period with Pat Lambie crossing the line, but referee Lawrence called play back for a Jean de Villiers forward pass.

South Africa’s captain John Smit and Habana were soon taken off, but Morné Steyn cut the deficit to two with a 56th minute penalty and the Springboks were given added momentum by 'supersubs' Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Hougaard.

Just four minutes later, Bok playmaker Steyn struck a perfect 35-metre drop-goal to hand his side the lead for the first time.

Lambie missed an ambitious long-range drop-goal as the Boks sought to close down the game.

But when lock Danie Rossouw was penalised for bringing down Samo in a line-out, O'Connor made no mistake with his second penalty to make it 11-9.

Australian held on for a fourth consecutive victory over South Africa.

Scorers:

Australia:

Try: James Horwill
Penalties: James O’Connor (2)

South Africa:

Penalties: Morné Steyn (2)
Drop goal: Steyn

Teams:

South Africa:
15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp

Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Willem Alberts, 19 Francois Louw, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon

Australia:
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia; 8 Radike Samo, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Dan Vickerman, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu

Substitutes: 16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Fainga'a