The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, represents Australia in men's international rugby union. The Wallabies' first test match was played in Sydney in 1899, against the touring British Isles team.
At first "Wallabies" only pertained to the 1908/09 tour party, then in the 1930s to all Australian national squads making overseas visits. From 1985 onwards "Wallabies" was applicable to all current and past Australian teams whether at home or away. The first Australian sides of the early 1900s that toured overseas performed a war cry that was claimed at the time to have Aboriginal Australian origins.
Australia has competed in all ten men's Rugby World Cups, winning the competition twice and finishing as runner-up twice.
The Wallabies also compete in The Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations), along with Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa, winning the championship four times.
More than a dozen former Wallabies players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
History
Early years
Australia's first international match was played against the touring British Isles team in 1899. The first test was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia, but the tourists would win the remaining three tests. The Australian team for the first match consisted of six players from Queensland and nine from New South Wales, and the first Australian captain was Frank Row of Sydney's Wallaroo FC. The team wore the blue of New South Wales when playing in Sydney and the maroon of Queensland when playing in Brisbane, but with an Australian Coat of Arms in place of the usual emblems of each colony.
The first Test between Australia and was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1903, with New Zealand winning 22–3. This tour improved rugby's popularity in Sydney and Brisbane and helped to boost club match attendances.
In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed and star player Dally Messenger left Rugby Union for Rugby League.
The next year the first Australian rugby union team to tour the British Isles left Sydney. At a pre-tour function it was announced the team would be called "the Rabbits", which British newspapers soon picked up on. The Australian players thought this nickname derogatory and after arriving in England replaced it with "the Wallabies".
In 1909, when Rugby League was still in its infancy in Australia, a match between the Australian Rugby League side, the Kangaroos, and the Wallabies was played before a crowd of around 20,000, with the Kangaroos winning 29–26.
The First World War had a terrible impact on rugby union in Australia. All rugby union competitions in New South Wales and Queensland ceased after the state bodies decided it was inappropriate to play the sport when so many young men were fighting overseas. The sport of rugby union was almost entirely shut down, causing many players to switch to rugby league – which did not cease playing during the war.
In Queensland regular competitions did not commence again until 1929, and there was no official Australian team selected through most of the 1920s before the 1929 All Blacks tour. The New South Wales Waratahs were re-formed in 1920, however, and played regularly throughout the decade including a series of matches against New Zealand and before their 1927–28 tour of the British Isles, France and Canada. Because these Waratahs teams were Australia's only representatives at the time, all international matches they played during this period were accorded retrospective Wallaby status.
War hero Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop also played for Australia before World War II. He played on the side that was the first to win the Bledisloe Cup.
Post-war: 1946–1959 World War Two halted all international rugby. The first test following the war for Australia was played at Carisbrook, Dunedin against New Zealand in 1946, which New Zealand won 31–8. Australia did not win on the three match tour; beaten 20–0 by New Zealand Maori, and then losing 14–10 to the All Blacks the following week.
Australia embarked on a tour of the home nations in 1947–48. The successful tour fell one game short of an undefeated run when the Australians lost to France in the final match, in Paris. Players on the rise included Trevor Allan, Cyril Burke and Nicholas Shehadie.
After returning from the successful European tour, Australia hosted the New Zealand Maori in a three match series in 1949; both sides winning once, with one draw. In September of that year, Australia played the All Blacks twice in New Zealand, winning both games and taking back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time on New Zealand soil. The 'Number 1' All Black side was touring South Africa at the time and the wins by Australia against the B-team have sometimes been downgraded. However, in deference to the apartheid system then in operation in South Africa, the NZRU did not select any Maori players for the tour. Many of those regular All Black Maori played against Australia instead and it could be said that the New Zealand team that played Australia was at least as good as the one on tour in South Africa.
The British Lions toured Australia in 1950, and played two tests against Australia, winning both with scores of 19–6 in Brisbane and 24–3 in Sydney.
The following year Australia fell to a three Test whitewash to the All Blacks. Australia won in July 1952, defeating Fiji at the Sydney Cricket Ground – then lost the second Test to Fiji by two points. Australia managed to beat the All Blacks at Lancaster Park after the Fijian series; however they lost the second Test.
On this tour they also drew against Rhodesia in Kitwe 8–8.
1960s The first match of the new decade was the win over Fiji at the SCG in the first match of a three Test series during 1961. This was followed by a second win, but Fiji grabbed a draw in the third Test. Australia then headed to South Africa, where they lost to the Springboks in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. After returning home, they faced France at the SCG, who beat them 15–8.
In 1962, Australia played the All Blacks five times, losing four and drawing one, 9–9 at Athletic Park. After defeating England 18–9 in 1963 in Sydney, Australia beat the Springboks in consecutive Tests in South Africa; the first team to do so since the 1896 British team.
Fewer tests were played throughout the mid-1960s, with Australia only playing a three Test series against All Blacks in 1964. They won the third Test after losing the first two. The following year Australia hosted the Springboks for two Tests, winning 18–11 and 12–8. This was their first ever series win over South Africa and first over a major nation since 1934.
The British Lions toured in 1966, beating Australia 11–8 at the SCG, before hammering them 31–0 in Brisbane. Australia left for Europe in that December where a 14–11 victory over Wales was followed by a slim 11–5 defeat of Scotland. The tour continued into the following year where Australia beat England 23–11 before losing to Ireland 15–8 and France 20–14. Australia then hosted Ireland, who beat them in Sydney, followed by a 20-point loss to the All Blacks. The following year, Australia lost to the All Blacks by just one point. Later that year they defeated France for the first time by the same margin from a long drop goal by John Ballesty for their last win of the decade. After losing to Ireland and Scotland on tour, Australia hosted Wales who also beat them.
1970s Australia's only test in 1970 was a win against Scotland. The next year, the controversial 1971 South African tour of Australia took place. Australia lost all three tests against South Africa, however the tour is remembered for the nationwide protests against the Apartheid system and the month long state of emergency in Queensland that was declared by the state's premier, Joh Bjeke Petersen, to break up protestors. Australia toured France in November, winning the first test in Toulouse, but losing the second in Paris.
France then visited Australia in 1972 and played a two test series where France won the first test and the second, a draw. Australia then traveled to New Zealand to play a three test series against the All Blacks where the Wallabies lost all three. A final test in Suva to play Fiji would be their only victory of the year.
In 1973, Australia hosted Tonga, winning the first test, but losing 11–16 at Ballymore in their second. Australia then had a short tour of the United Kingdom in November losing 24–0 to Wales, and 20–3 to England.
In 1974, former Wallaby Dick Marks was appointed as the inaugural National Director of Coaching, beginning a period of systematic improvement of Australian rugby under the National Coaching Scheme. The foundations built here would lead to outstanding international successes through the 1980s and 1990s.Meares and Howell; Wallaby Legends; Lothian Books, 2005 The tests played in 1974 saw Australia hosting the All Blacks for a three test series—losing two, but drawing in Brisbane.
In 1975 Australia defeated England in a two test series at home. This was followed by playing Japan for the first time where, in a two match series, the Wallabies won both tests. Australia then embarked on a tour of Britain and Ireland at the end of 1975 with losses against Scotland, Wales, and England but defeated Ireland at Lansdowne Road.
On their way home, and now in 1976, Australia played one match in Los Angeles against the United States. Australia winning 24–12. In June, Australia hosted Fiji for a three Test series and won three. The Wallabies finished the year with a tour of Europe where the team lost two tests against France, then narrowly beat Italy 16–15.
Australia would play no tests in 1977.
Wales toured Australia in 1978, which saw the Wallabies winners by 18–8 at Ballymore, and then again by two points at the SCG. This was followed by a three match series against the All Blacks in New Zealand. New Zealand won the first two tests but Australia won the last test at Eden Park with Greg Cornelsen scoring four tries. in 1979 Ireland visited Australia for a two match series with Ireland winning both tests. After this defeat Australia hosted the All Blacks for a single Test at the SCG which Australia won 12–6. Australia then traveled to Argentina for a two test series, with both teams winning one test each.
1980s In 1980 Australia won the Bledisloe Cup for only the fourth time—defeating New Zealand 2–1 in a three match series in Australia. This was the start of a successful era for Australia. In 1984 Australia toured the Home nations with a young side and new coach Alan Jones. The 1984 Wallabies became the first team from Australia to achieve a Grand Slam by defeating all four Home Nations: England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and a strong Barbarians side. The tour signalled the emergence of Australia as a serious force on the world stage. Many records were established on the tour including; 100 points being scored in the four Tests—the most scored by a touring team to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first ever push-over try conceded by Wales in Cardiff, Mark Ella scoring a try in each match – a feat never before achieved.
In 1986 Australia toured New Zealand in a three match series for the Bledisloe Cup. New Zealand rugby was in turmoil as an unofficial team named The Cavaliers that contained the bulk of the All Blacks players toured South Africa. On return those All Blacks who had toured with The Cavaliers were banned from selection for the first Bledisloe Test. Australia went on to win the first match by 13–12. The ban on players was lifted for the second Test which was played on 23 August 1986 at Carisbrook. New Zealand squared the series 1–1 by winning the match 13–12. The final Test was played on 6 September 1986 at Eden Park where Australia beat a full strength New Zealand team 22–9 to secure their first series win on New Zealand soil.