About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Australia national rugby union team

Encyclopedia : A : AU : AUS : Australia national rugby union team

 

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. Nicknamed the Wallabies or currently the Qantas Wallabies for sponsorship reasons, the team represents Australia at international rugby union competitions, including the Rugby World Cup and the Tri Nations.

The Wallabies have competed in all five of the rugby union World Cups that have thus far been staged. They won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 and 1999 and also lost in the final match in extra time to England in 2003 competition. The Wallabies are governed by the Australian Rugby Union.

The Wallabies play in Australia's traditional sporting colours of green and gold, and the Wallaby jersey is considered the most recognisable Australian sporting jersey. The Wallabies, along with the national cricket team are considered Australia's most popular national sports teams.

Contents

Strip

With the first internationals being played in 1899, with their being no national jersey in place, state colours (matches played in Queensland and New South Wales) were used, with the Australian Coat of Arms replacing the state logo. Thus a blue jersey was worn in the NSW games, and a maroon for the match in QLD. In the early 1900s, the ARU started to look for an appropriate national jersey. Though throughout the early 1900s, games were played in jerseys with blue and maroon hoops. From 1908 to 1912, the emblem of a Waratah was predominantly used, with Australia written underneath, or simply an 'A' over the state emblem. Since the NSWRU was practically the governing body in Australia at the time, the blue jersey was quite common, as was the state flower, being the Waratah.

In 1928, respective governing bodiess of NSW and QLD agreed that 'the Australian amateur representative colours of green and gold, should be adopted'. The following year, the All Blacks came to Australia, and the jersey worn was emerald green with the Australian Coat of Arms with green socks with bars on the top. This jersey remained the same, with a few variations, mainly throughout the 1930s, with variations on it, or changes due to jersey conflicts. In 1961 a gold jersey was used for a South African tour, and the gold has remained ever since.

In late 2005, before departing on their Spring tour of the United Kingdom and France, the Australian Rugby Union unveiled a new-look jersey for the Wallabies. The new jersey, custom-designed by Canterbury, was also designed in consultation with several Wallabies as well receiving feedback from fans and rugby figures. The main change in the jersey was that the green hoops were removed from the sleeves. Instead, green panels were placed under the sleeves and down the side of the jersesy. The green material, which is strechable, is designed to improve freedom of movement.

History

Origins

After William Webb Ellis supposedly picked up the ball and ran with it in 1823, the sport of rugby union would have been sent out to Australia with the new colonists soon after. There are reports of early games of rugby between the army and the crews of visiting ships being played at Barrack Square in Sydney in the 1820s. The first recorded game of union in Australia was on 25 July 1839 and involved members of the military. Soon after, the game spread throughout the new colonies, and the game enjoyed much more popularity than in England where football was taking hold.

However the game was firmly established in Sydney where it developed a strong following. The recognised first club was the Sydney University Football Club in 1864 (the word "football" was used for both Australian rules football and rugby as well as soccer). By 1874, there were enough clubs to be able to create a Sydney metropolitan competition.

The first inter-colonial game occurred in 1882, when players from the four Queensland clubs (who played both rugby and Australian rules football, travelled to NSW. NSW won by 28 points to 4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 4,000 spectators. In 1883, the Southern Rugby Union (New South Wales) toured New Zealand becoming the first team in the world to tour overseas. A New Zealand team toured in 1884 defeating New South Wales each time in a series of three matches and wins all nine matches on tour.

The first tour by a British team took place in 1888 when a British Isles team toured the Australian colonies and New Zealand, though no test matches were played. The players were drawn mainly from England and the Scottish borders, though there were representatives from all four home unions. This tour was not sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union as the tour was organised by entrepreneurs and thus contravened the strict regulations the union had pertaining to professionalism.

In 1899, the first officially sanctioned British Isles team toured Australia. Four Tests were played between Australia and the British Isles (three in Sydney and one in Brisbane). The Australian team was, in reality, the representative side of the colony in which the match was played. Accordingly the team wore the blue of New South Wales when playing in Sydney and the maroon of Queensland when playing in Brisbane, although the teams (with completely different line-ups) were both styled as "Australia". The tourists won all their games except the first, which was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and was won 13-3 by Australia.

Early 20th century

The first contest between Australia and New Zealand was played on 15th August, 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite Australia losing 22-3 this tour greatly increased the popularity of rugby and large crowds started attending grade matches in Sydney and Brisbane. That same year the first Australian representative team, the first Wallabies, went on tour. Sailing on the steamship 'Omrah', the team spent nine months touring the United Kingdom and North America. They won 32 of the 38 matches played.

In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed, they poached star player Dally Messenger, and many of the crowds followed. The 1908 party to tour Britain remained strong, though. They were dubbed 'rabbits' in the British press, but to counter this they came up with the nickname that would stick with the side Wallabies. The 1908 tour coincided with the London Olympic Games in which rugby union was a sport. The Australian team won the gold medal by defeating Cornwall, the Champion English county representing Great Britain. When the team returned home, eleven members of its members were enticed by the money offered to join the Rugby League. In 1909 a series of four exhibition matches were played between the Kangaroos and the Wallabies. (For information on the results of these matches, see here.)

Australia throughout most of the 20th century were a consistently reasonable side, however they were clearly not up to the standards of the major dominant sides like New Zealand or South Africa's Springboks. The key to this was because union in Australia as in elsewhere was an amateur sport, unlike the professional rugby league which quickly gained support in the working-class communities and poached star union players.

The last test before the start of World War I was played against New Zealand in July 1914, but the war had a devastating effect on rugby union in Australia. With so many young players enlisting to fight, the union authorities decided it was unpatriotic to play rugby while thousands of young Australian men were being sent overseas to fight in the First World War. Competitions all but closed down in New South Wales and did so in Queensland where it did not commence again until 1928. With only one alternative, players switched in huge numbers to rugby league.

During the 1920s the only representative team available for the international competition were the New South Wales Waratahs, all thirty-nine internationals played by them have been accorded retrospective Wallaby status. In 1921 South Africa visits Australia and New Zealand for the first time winning all three tests in Australia. The most famous Waratah team was the 1927/28 Waratahs who toured the United Kingdom, France and North America, introducing a style of open, running rugby never seen before, but which has been the stamp of the Australian game ever since. They won 24 and drew two of their 31 official matches.

The re-emergence of The Queensland Rugby Union in 1928/9 immediately makes a forceful impact on the performances of the Australian team, which defeated New Zealand in all 3 tests for the first time. Australian Rugby Union adopted green and gold as its official colours in 1929. The Australian jersey is green with the Australian coat of arms.

In 1931, the then Governor General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe donated a rugby trophy to foster sporting ties between Australia and New Zealand. Bearing his name, the Bledisloe Cup was established. The inaugural competition was won by New Zealand two games to one.

The Wallabies make their first tour to South Africa in 1933 for a four test series, won by South Africa three to one. Australia win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 1934. The tour of the 1939 Wallabies is cancelled when war is declared the day after the team arrive in England. After two weeks in England, the team returns home.

Post war

After eight years, the first Test to mark the end of WWII was played at Carisbrook between Australia and New Zealand in 1946, which New Zealand won 31 to 8. Australia did not win a game on the three match tour; being held 20 to nil by the NZ Maori, and then losing 14 to 10 to the All Blacks the following week. After losing a two-test series to the All Blacks, the Wallabies embarked on a tour of the home nations throughout 1947/48. In the four tests against the Home Unions the Australian line was never crossed, with England and Wales even being held to zero. The successful tour fell short of an undefeated run when the Wallabies fell to France in their last match in Paris.

After returning from a successful European tour, the Wallabies hosted the NZ Maori in a three match series in 1949; both sides winning once, and one match resulting in a draw. In September of that year, the Wallabies played the All blacks twice in New Zealand, losing the first at Athletic Park, but beating them at Eden Park in the second test. The British Isles came to Australia in 1950, and won both of the tests against the Wallabies. The following year Australia fell two a three test whitewash to the All Blacks. The Wallabies found a win in July of 1952, defeating Fiji at the SCG, though they then lost the second test by two points to the Fijians. Australia managed to beat the All Blacks at Jade after the Fijian series, though they lost the second test.

In 1953 Australia toured South Africa for the second time and although they lost the series they were given a standing ovation after defeating South Africa 18-14 in the 2nd Test at Newlands. Wallaby Captain John Solomon was chaired off the field by two South African players. This was the first Springbok defeat for 15 years.

In 1957-58 they became the only one of the southern hemisphere sides to have lost to all four Home nations in one tour. They also lost to France on the same tour. The Australians adopted their now familiar gold jersey for the 1961 Wallaby tour to South Africa, as their previous green jerseys might have caused confusion with the Springbok jersey. It has remained predominantly gold ever since.

The 1960s

No Wallaby tests were contested in 1960, so the first match of the new decade was the win over Fiji at the SCG in the first match of a three test series. This was followed by a second win, although Fiji grabbed a draw in the third and final test. The Wallabies then headed to South Africa, were the lost to the Springboks in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. After returning home, they faced France at the SCG, who beat them 15 to 8.

In 1962, the Wallabies played the All Blacks five times throughout the year, losing all but the one 9-all draw at Athletic Park in Wellington. After defeating England in 1963 in Sydney, the Wallabies 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 the Wallabies only playing the All Blacks in 1964, though it was on three occasions. The Wallabies one the third test after losing the first two, all of which were played in New Zealand. The following year Australia hosted the Springboks for two tests, winning both. The British Isles came the following year, defeating the Wallabies 11 to 8 at the SCG, before hammering them 31 nil in Brisbane. Australia then left for Europe in that December, losing to Wales and Scotland.

The tour continued into the following year, which saw Australia defeat England, though losing to Ireland and France. Australia then hosted Ireland, who beat them again in Sydney, which was followed by a 20 point loss to the All Blacks. The following year, the Wallabies lost to the All Blacks by just one point, and defeated France by the same margin. After losing to Ireland and Scotland on tour, Australia hosted Wales who also defeated them. The Wallabies then left for a somewha controversial tour to South Africa.

The 1970s

There was only one Wallaby test played in 1970, which was contested at the SCG against Scotland, which Australia soundly won, by 20 points. The 1971 South African tour of Australia became infamous in Australian sporting history. Prior to the tour, calls were being made for Australia to cut sporting ties with the republic due to apartheid. The tour went ahead, with the support of the Australia Federal Government, though trouble was evident from the begining, as protesters awaited the Springboks' arrival at the airport. Tour matches in Adelaide and Perth went, for the large part, undisrupted.

A match at Olympic Park in Melbourne saw around 5,000 people march on the stadium to disturb the match, though police had set up a wall around the stadium, and arrested 140 people. For the first test, against the Wallabies, several people attempted to saw down the goal posts at the SCG. In addition, a huge anti-apartheid effigy was temporarily hung from the Harbour Bridge. The Springboks, despite the problems, won the first test. As a pre-caution, a state of emergency was issued in Queensland for the second test, with the game also being moved from Ballymore to the Exhibition Ground so barricades could be erected. The match was also won by the Springboks. The third test was played at the SCG, at the Springboks, perhaps, quite surprisingly, had finished the test series 3 to nil. Australia toured France in November of that year, defeating France in Toulouse, but losing the second test in Paris.

After the French tour, France visited Australia in June of 1972, playing a two test series against the Wallabies, which France drew once and won once, though they only won by a single point in the second test. The Wallabies then left for New Zealand for a three test series against the All Blacks, losing all three. The Wallabies, up to then winless in 1972, stopped in Fiji on their way home and managed a three point win over Fiji in Suva.

The following year the Wallabies hosted Tonga, and after winning the first test, the second saw a result of an 11-16 loss to Tonga in Ballymore, Brisbane in June. This led Australia to start recruiting players from the South Sea islands. [link] The Wallabies also had a short tour of the United Kingdom in November, in which they were hammered 24 nil by Wales, and similarly defeated 20 to 3 by England. In 1974, Australia hosted the All Blacks for a three test series, losing two, but managing a draw in Brisbane.

The Wallabies were back to winning ways by mid 1975, defeating England in a two test series at home. The Wallabies then played Japan for the first time, trouncing them by 30 points in the first of two matches, and then winning 50 to 25 in the second. After four wins that year, the Wallabies headed off to the Northern hemisphere for matches against Scotland and Wales, although they were not able to score a try in either of the losses. The tour continued into the new year, and Australia went down to England at Twickenham, but were able to get over the Irish at Lansdowne Road. On their way home, the Wallabie played one more match - in Los Angeles, against the United States. The match was won by Australia, 24 to 12. In June of that year, Australia hosted Fiji for a three test series and recorded solid wins on all three occasions. The Wallabies finished the year with two tests against France in France, but lost both of them. There were no Wallaby tests played in 1977.

Wales came to Australia in 1978, and Australia defeated them 18 to 8 at Ballymore, and then again by two points at the SCG. This was followed by a three match series with the All Blacks, which although New Zealand won the first two, Australia defeated them in the last test at Eden Park. The following year Ireland visited Australia, defeating the Wallabies in two tests. After the losses to Ireland, Australia hosted the All Blacks for a single test at the SCG, which the Wallabies won 12 to six. Australia then left for Argentina for two tests. After going down 24 to 13 in the first, the Wallabies finished the 1970s on a high note, defeating Argentina 17 to 12 in Buenos Aires.

The 1980s

In 1980, Australia won the Bledisloe Cup for only the fourth time, defeating New Zealand 2-1. This was the start of a successful era for the Wallabies. In 1984, Australia toured the Home nations with a young side, and new coach Alan Jones. For the first time they won a "Grand Slam", beating England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales as well as defeating a strong Barbarians side. The tour signalled the emergence of the Wallabies as a serious force on the world stage. Young gun Mark Ella scored a try in each match. Other players on the rise included David Campese, Michael Lynagh, Nick Farr-Jones and Simon Poidevin who would all prove instrumental in future years.

Australia toured New Zealand in 1986 playing three games. For the first time they won two away from home and only lost the third by one point. The Wallabies were jubilant - for the first time they had beaten all the major teams of the world and had become a dominant force in the rugby union world.

Therefore the Wallabies went into the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 feeling quite confident. However the semi-final against France, held at Sydney's Concord Oval, was lost 30-26. France went on to lose the final against New Zealand. Previously they had been far from the world beaters they have become in the last two decades and they remain the only one of the southern hemisphere sides to have lost to all four home nations in one tour, in 1957-58.

The 1990s

The team regrouped and then went into the 1991 World Cup, held in England, with a renewed attitude and a new coach - Bob Dwyer. The Wallabies cruised to a 38-3 win. There was a scare for them in Dublin against Ireland, but they eased past New Zealand in the semi-final. They faced England in the final in Twickenham and - with the aid of a classic sledging campaign in which the Australians fueled claims to the media regarding England's ability to play a running game. England changed their game plan and Australia battled out a 12-6 win. Victory parades were held back in Australia for the Wallabies and by this stage many players which have become household names in Australia today were on the rise, including John Eales, Tim Horan, Jason Little, Phil Kearns and Willie Ofahengaue.

After this victory, Australian rugby had a slight slump for a few years. However, the mid-90s proved to be some of the most important years in the creation of the modern game. The Wallabies' defence of the World Cup in South Africa in 1995 was a rare disappointment for them. An opening defeat against the home side was followed by an exit in the quarter-final against England and the boot of Rob Andrew. This was their worst ever result at a World Cup. The creation of the Tri Nations and Super 12 tournaments, and the entire professional revolution brought rugby union much more attention and acclaim. Indeed, Australia, and England, despite some growing pains, appear to have benefitted unequivocally from the professionalization of the game. In particular in Australia there was much more expectation for performance, when the game had more popularity and media coverage. In response to rugby's move to professionalism, the Rugby Union Players' Association of Australia (RUPA) was established in October 1995, with the aim of safeguarding the interests of Australia's professional rugby players.

The Australians again had a new coach Rod Macqueen and new young players on the rise - Matt Burke, George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff and Toutai Kefu. The Wallabies won the semi-final 27-21 against defending champions South Africa at the 1999 World Cup after a memorable drop goal in extra time by five-eighth Larkham (his first ever attempt in a test match). The final against France at Millennium Stadium was easily won by 35 to 12, the majority of which was courtesy of fullback / goalkicker, Matt Burke.

The Wallabies were again world champions, the first side to ever win the William Webb Ellis trophy twice. Soon after, they were also the victors of the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri Nations and their first ever victory over the British and Irish Lions in 2001. They were also the first international side to beat New Zealand at their stronghold of Dunedin. Rod Macqueen, the coach, and John Eales, the captain, however both retired soon after this leaving new coach Eddie Jones and new captain George Gregan having to prepare the side for the next world cup to be held on home turf in 2003.

The new millennium

The new team established a training centre at Coffs Harbour and enjoyed mixed success. They were certainly competitive, but inconsistent, and public faith was lacking in the leadup to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. However this faith was all restored in the exciting semi-final match against New Zealand where Australia won 22-10. Australia went on to play England in the final, losing the game in the final minutes of extra time when English fly half Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal. The Wallabies would get their revenge against England some eight months later, but the team had declined in performance from that game right until the 2005 seasons.

Since the loss in the 2003 Rugby World Cup and especially during the 2005 season, the Wallabies' form has not been positive where they only won one test match out of their final nine for the year. By 2005, within the space of four years the Wallabies had lost players such as John Eales, Ben Tune, Totai Kefu and Matthew Burke. In 2005 to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the professionalism of rugby union, the Wallaby Team of the Decade was announced, with John Eales being named captain by a selection panel of 30. At the end of the European tour, various media outlets (like the Daily Telegraph) called for the sacking of both Coach Jones and Captain Gregan, as did former coach Alan Jones. The poor form finally resulted in the December 2005 sacking of coach Eddie Jones, with Australian Rugby Union making the decision based on long-term interests for the team, especially the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

After a period of speculation John Connolly was named as the head-coach of Australia in early 2006, who had previously been with the Reds, and since went over to Europe where he found success with clubs such as Stade Français and Bath. Connolly named a somewhat fresh squad for his first task, which was to take the Cook Cup from England, who had soundly defeated them at Twickenham the year before. The Wallabies won both of two tests against England, as well as producing a strong subsequent win over Ireland.

Stadium

The opening match of the 2003 World Cup at Telstra Stadium.
Enlarge
The opening match of the 2003 World Cup at Telstra Stadium.

The Wallabies usually play at Telstra Stadium where they hold the stadium record of 109,874 in a test against the All Blacks in Sydney, Telstra Dome where they hold the stadium record of 54,868 against England in Melbourne, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and Subiaco Oval in Perth. The ground record for Telstra Stadium is also the world record attendance for a rugby union test. Telstra Stadium was also the host the the World Cup final of 2003, between the Wallabies and England, which Australia lost in extra time, through a drop goal from Jonny Wilkinson.

Earlier stadiums that were traditionally used for Wallabies matches, included Sydney's Concord Oval and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Sports Ground, as well as Ballymore and the Exhibition Ground in Brisbane. It was the SCG that hosted the first ever Australian international, against Great Britain, in 1899.

Current squad

Squad for the 2006 Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series:

Players unavalaible due to injury:

Statistics

Most capped players

  1. George Gregan - 118
  2. David Campese - 101
  3. Joe Roff - 86
  4. John Eales - 86
  5. Matt Burke - 81
  6. Tim Horan - 80
  7. David Wilson - 79
  8. Jason Little - 75
  9. Stephen Larkham - 73
  10. Michael Lynagh - 72

Leading try scorers

  1. David Campese - 64
  2. Joe Roff - 31
  3. Tim Horan - 30
  4. Matt Burke - 29
  5. Chris Latham - 25
  6. Ben Tune - 24
  7. Jason Little - 21
  8. Stirling Mortlock - 20
  9. Stephen Larkham - 18
  10. Michael Lynagh - 17

Leading point scorers

  1. Michael Lynagh - 911
  2. Matt Burke - 878
  3. David Campese - 315
  4. Paul McLean - 260
  5. Joe Roff - 249
  6. Stirling Mortlock - 190
  7. Elton Flatley - 180
  8. John Eales - 173
  9. Tim Horan - 140
  10. Chris Latham - 125

Notable players

Upcoming fixtures

Recent results

See also

Notes

References

External links

  SANZAR rugby union links [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ]
Rugby union in Australia | Rugby union in New Zealand | Rugby union in South Africa
Federation Links
Australian Rugby Union | New Zealand Rugby Football Union | South African Rugby Union | SANZAR
Competitions
Super 14 | Tri Nations
National teams
Australia | New Zealand | South Africa
Super 14 teams
Blues | Brumbies | Bulls | Cats | Cheetahs | Chiefs | Crusaders | Force | Highlanders | Hurricanes | Reds | Sharks | Stormers | Waratahs |
Spears (originally to play in 2007, future now uncertain)
List of champions
Super 12 | Super 14 | Tri Nations

Rugby union in Australia
National Teams: Wallabies | Women's | Australian sevens team | Under 21's | Under 19's
Provincial rugby: Super 14 | NSW Waratahs | Queensland Reds | ACT Brumbies | Western Force
International Governing Bodies: International Rugby Board | SANZAR | Australian Rugby Union
State Governing Bodies: ACT Rugby Union | New South Wales Rugby Union | Northern Territory Rugby Union | Queensland Rugby Union | South Australia Rugby Union | Tasmanian Rugby Union | Victorian Rugby Union | Western Australia Rugby Union
Regional Governing Bodies: New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union | New South Wales Country Rugby Union
National competitions: National Rugby Competition (2007) | Australian Rugby Shield | Australian Provincial Championship
Local competitions: Shute Shield | Tooheys New Cup | Queensland Premier Rugby | Brisbane Club Rugby
Sydney Club Rugby: Eastern Suburbs | Eastwood | Gordon | Manly | Northern Suburbs | Parramatta | Penrith | Randwick | Southern Districts | Sydney University | Warringah | West Harbour
Brisbane Club Rugby: Brothers Old Boys | Easts Tigers | Gold Coast Breakers | GPS | Norths/QUT | Souths | Sunnybank | Sunshine Coast Stingrays | University | Wests
[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: