Rugby: Ireland shock Wallabies in World Cup

(CNN) -- Ireland upset the Australian Wallabies 15-6 at Eden Park Saturday to top Pool C of the Rugby World Cup.

It was Ireland's first win over Australia in five attempts at the global showpiece and puts them securely on the path to the quarterfinals after two victories from two matches.

Inspired defense in wet conditions frustrated their more fancied opponents, who trail them by three points with two games to play.

"We were mentally in a place where we felt we owed ourselves a big performance as much as we owed the Irish public one," Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll told AFP.

"The Irish played more intelligently, they put us under a lot of pressure and profited from that, particularly in our end of the ground," Wallabies' coach Robbie Deans said.

Australia were ahead early through a James O'Connor penalty in the 11th minute, but Jonathan Sexton's leveled for the Irish with a penalty of their own before putting them 6-3 ahead with a drop goal.

O'Connor put Australia back on level terms before the break, but after the interval Sexton gave Ireland a lead they never relinquished with his trusty boot.

Ronan O'Gara came off the bench to kick to further penalties, taking his Irish points tally to a record 1,039 and they almost added a late try as winger Tommy Bowe was pulled up by O'Connor five meters from the try-line.

Meanwhile, South Africa made it two wins out of two in the defense of the title with a commanding 49-3 victory over Fiji on Saturday.

After their narrow 17-6 win over Wales in their Pool D opener, the Springboks were far sharper and scored tries through center Jaque Fourie, Gurthro Steenkamp, Frans Steyn, Morne Steyn, Tendai Mtawarira and Danie Rossouw.

Morne Steyn kicked 16 points with a Frans Steyn penalty the other score. Seremia Bai scored a sole penalty for Fiji, who beat Namibia 49-25 in their opener, but were outclassed here.

In the other World Cup match played Saturday, Argentina scored their first win, after a narrow opening defeat to England, with a 43-8 victory over Romania in Pool B, running in six tries.

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