Australia national rugby union team
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
| Nickname(s) | Wallabies | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Wallaby | ||||||||
| Union | Rugby Australia | ||||||||
| Head coach | Joe Schmidt | ||||||||
| Captain |
| ||||||||
| Most caps | George Gregan (139) | ||||||||
| Top scorer | Michael Lynagh (911) | ||||||||
| Top try scorer | David Campese (64) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| World Rugby ranking | |||||||||
| Current | 9 (as of 18 March 2024) | ||||||||
| Highest | 2 (2004) | ||||||||
| Lowest | 10 (2023, 2024) | ||||||||
| First international | |||||||||
| Australia 13–3 British Isles (Sydney, New South Wales; 24 June 1899) | |||||||||
| Biggest win | |||||||||
| Australia 142–0 Namibia (Adelaide, Australia; 25 October 2003) | |||||||||
| Biggest defeat | |||||||||
| South Africa 53–8 Australia (Johannesburg, South Africa; 30 August 2008) | |||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||
| Appearances | 10 (First in 1987) | ||||||||
| Best result | Champions (1991, 1999) | ||||||||
| Tri Nations/Rugby Championship | |||||||||
| Appearances | 28 | ||||||||
| Best result | Champions (2000, 2001, 2011, 2015) | ||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||
| Website | rugby.com.au | ||||||||
Australia have competed in all nine Rugby World Cups, winning the final on two occasions and also finishing as runner-up twice. Australia beat England at Twickenham in the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup and won again in 1999 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when their opponents in the final were France.
The Wallabies also compete annually in The Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations), along with southern hemisphere counterparts Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. They have won this championship on four occasions. Australia also plays Test matches against the various rugby-playing nations.
More than a dozen former Wallabies players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.