Australia Rugby Team

Origins

The first rugby club in Australia appeared in 1864 - the first organization in the country was created by students of the University of Sydney ^[8] . The first rugby tournament, which was already attended by six teams, took place next year. Nine years later, at a meeting at the Sydney Oxford Hotel, the Southern Rugby Union was established to take on the development of the game in New South Wales ^[9] . The first rugby matches in Queensland are dated 1876 ^[10] . In 1882, the first match between the national teams was held. Queensland rugby players who also played Australian football came to New South Wales and lost with a score of 4:28 ^[11] .

In 1883, the Southern Rugby Union team held a series of matches in New Zealand , which became the first overseas tour in rugby history ^[11] . New Zealanders paid a return visit to New South Wales a year later and beat the home team in all three matches. Six other meetings also ended in victory for New Zealand ^[12] .

The first visit of British rugby players to Australia and New Zealand took place in 1888. The team was staffed for the most part by athletes from England and Scotland , while local entrepreneurs took over the costs ^[13] . The English Rugby Union refused to give this team the status of a team due to strict control over financial flows in rugby. As a result, the British did not play a single test match against the teams of New South Wales or New Zealand ^[14] . In 1892, the Australian South Rugby Union was renamed the New South Wales Rugby Union ^[13] .

In 1899, the officially recognized team of the British Isles came to Australia ^[15] . Europeans played four matches with the Australian national team - three in Sydney and one in Brisbane . Despite the fact that the home team was called the “Australian team”, in Sydney matches the team used a blue uniform, and the Brisbane squad performed in burgundy colors ^[16] . Having lost in the first match at the Sydney cricket stadium (3:13), the tourists won three other meetings ^[15] .

Beginning of the Century

The start of the confrontation between the national teams of Australia and New Zealand was laid on August 15, 1903. The Australians took opponents in Sydney and lost with a score of 3:22 ^[17] . The main character of the match was New Zealand winged Billy Wallace, chalked up 13 points of the islanders. The match was the reason for the rapid growth in the popularity of rugby in both New South Wales and Queensland. The meeting of rivals was watched by 30 thousand spectators ^[11] .

In 1907, the New South Wales Rugby League was created, an association of state sports clubs playing rugby 13 ( rugby league ). At the same time, one of the country's strongest rugby players, Dalley Messenger, completed his appearances in rugby 15 and moved into a rival league ^[18] . The following year, a team was assembled that went to perform in Britain. The team received the name “Rabbits” ( English Rabbits , “ rabbits ” ) and left Sydney with it ^[19] . The players, however, found this nickname derogatory, and soon the team changed its name to “Wallabis” ( English Wallabies , “ Wallaby ” ) ^[20] . Matches in the UK coincided with the London Olympics , which included rugby. The competition program of the rugby tournament included only one match in which Australia played ^{[approx. 3]} and the Cornwall County team, which represented Britain as a champion. As a result, the Australians won with a score of 32: 3, and Phillip Carmichael became the most productive Wallabis player ^[21] . Upon returning to their homeland, more than half of the national team players switched to rugby-13 teams, which, unlike rugby-15 clubs, offered their athletes earnings ^[22] .

In 1909, when Australian rugby league was still in its infancy, a match was held between the Australian national rugby 13 and rugby 15 teams. The victory was won by the rugby team (29:26), known by the nickname “Kangaroos” ( English Kangaroos ), and such a loud sign of the match attracted 20 thousand fans to the stands ^[23] . The last test game “Wallabis” before the start of World War I took place in July 1914, the Australians played with New Zealand. The war affected the development of the game extremely negatively, many athletes were drafted into the army ^[24] . Sports officials considered it immoral to hold competitions at a time when thousands of Australian soldiers defended the country's interests in foreign battles. The draws of the main tournaments in New South Wales and Queensland were suspended, while in the last regular competitions were restored only by 1928 ^[24] . One of the outcomes of this decision was another outflow of rugby 13 players, competitions for which were still held ^[25] .

In the twenties, the only team from Australia with which foreign rugby players could play was the New South Wales Uarataz team. All 39 international team matches held during that period later received test status ^[24] . In 1921, South African rugby players first visited Australia and New Zealand. “Uarataz” played three times with guests and in all three cases were weaker than South Africans ^[26] . One of the most famous compounds "Uarataz" was assembled in 1927. The Australian team went on tour in the UK, France and Canada . Australians of that generation preferred an open, high-speed game, which was rare for the first quarter of a century ^[24] . Rugby players of New South Wales held 31 official matches, of which 24 were victorious and two more did not reveal the best ^[27] .

The restoration of the Queensland Rugby Union in 1928-1929 immediately affected the level of performance of the national team ^[27] . That season, Australians broke the resistance of New Zealand rugby players in all three matches - Wallabis had never before submitted such an achievement ^[27] . In 1931, the Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Bledislow, donated a trophy to the Rugby Union of Australia and New Zealand, which was to strengthen ties between the two countries. The prize received the name of a patron and began to be regularly played between rivals. The New Zealanders became the first owner of the cup, having won two out of three matches in the 1932 season ^[27] . One of the players of the interwar period team was the future hero of World War II, Edward "Wary" Dunlop. He was part of the team that first won the Bledislow Cup in 1934 ^{[28] [27]} .

In 1933, the Australians paid a return visit to South Africa. “Wallabis” played with the hosts four times, but won in only one match ^[29] . The Australian team arrived in England in 1939, but not the next day, Great Britain entered the war. The tour was canceled, and two weeks later the Wallaby returned to Australia ^[27] .

Post-war period

The post-war history of the Australian national team begins with a game against New Zealand in 1946. The meeting of rivals took place on the territory of New Zealanders, in Dunedin , and All Blacks confidently won (31: 8) ^[30] . A few days later, the Australians lost to the Maori team (0:20), and then again lost to the New Zealand team (10:14) ^[30] . In the fall and winter of 1947-1948, Wallabis met with the British national teams on their territory. In four matches against all British teams, the Australians did not miss a single attempt ^{[31] [32] [33]} , although they lost to the Welsh . Then there was a game with phrases , in which the test zone of the guests was still hit, and three times ^[34] . Rugby players such as Trevor Allan, Cyril Burke and Nicholas Shayadi stood out among the Australians ^[35] .

After arriving in their home continent, Wallabis hosted the Maori team that defeated them recently. Both teams won one victory, another game ended in a draw ^[36] . In September, Australia twice played with the All Blacks in New Zealand, winning two games and winning the Bledislow Cup for the first time on New Zealand ^{[37] [27]} . On the other hand, at the same time, New Zealanders conducted tours in South Africa ^[38] , so they could not offer Australians and South Africans equally strong compositions. In view of the apartheid regime in force in the African state, New Zealanders were forced to leave Aboriginal rugby players at home ^[39] . It was they, together with the White All Black reservists, who accepted the Australians. The following year, a united British team visited the Green Continent , which twice surpassed the Australians (19: 6 and 24: 3) ^[40] . In 1951, “Wallabis” unconditionally lost in the home series to New Zealanders (0: 8, 11:17 and 6:16) ^[41] . A year later, the Australians exchanged victories with the Fiji team that arrived ^[42] , and then a similar result (1: 1 in matches) was achieved as part of a small New Zealand tour ^[43] .

The second trip of Australians to South Africa took place in 1953. The team lost a series of matches, but still achieved success in one of the matches. After a victory with a score of 18:14, local fans standing ovated the guests, and team captain John Solomon left the field not on the shoulders of two Springbox players ^[27] . This defeat was the first for South Africans in fifteen years ^[27] . In 1957-1958, the Australians again paid a visit to European teams. Having lost to all the British national teams, and then lost to the French without a single point ^[44] , Wallis showed a unique result for teams from the Southern Hemisphere .

1960s

The new decade was opened with two victories and a draw in games with Fiji ^[45] . In August of the same 1961, Australian rugby players tried to take revenge from South Africans. However, two more games in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg again ended in a triumph for the host ^[46] . This was followed by a home defeat from the French (8:15), who visited Australasia that year.

In the 62nd “Wallabis” played five times with the “All Blacks”, and in only one match were able to achieve a draw ^{[47] [48]} . The streak of failures was interrupted the following season: first, Australia won in a duel with the arriving British (18: 9) ^[49] , and a few months later broke the world in a series with South Africa (2: 2) ^[50] . “Wallabis” managed to win two matches in a row, which failed to any of the rivals “Springbox” since 1896 ^[27] . The activity of the national team in the mid-sixties decreased. In 1964, the team’s annual plan included only three meetings with the main opponents, New Zealanders. Once again, the yellow-green lost to All Black, however, the Australians still won one victory ^[51] . A year later, the Wallabies, now hosting the South Africans, inflicted a double defeat on them (18:11 and 12: 8) ^[52] . Never before have Australians beat this opponent in a series.

The British came to Australia in 1966, and if the match in Sydney was held in a bitter struggle (11: 8 in favor of the UK), the Brisbane match ended in a very insulting victory for British athletes (31: 0). It is noteworthy that after some time the guests arrived in New Zealand, where the kiwi were defeated in all four matches ^[53] . In winter, Australia played separately with European teams, and was able to surpass Wales and England ^[54] . In August of the following year, the team lost to New Zealanders with a difference of twenty points ^[55] . A year later, the teams held two more meetings, which ended in the same way, but the difference in the level of opponents was less striking ^[56] . The fans of the national team saw the last victory of the decade in 1968, when Australia got the upper hand over the French with a minimal margin (11:10) ^[57] .

1970s

The 1970 visit of the Scottish team to Australia involved only one test match, which Wallabis easily won (23: 3) ^[58] . In the new year, the country was visited by South African rugby players, who continued to pursue apartheid. Residents of the Green Continent perceived the arrival of Springbox as an opportunity to express their position on the discriminatory campaign. Protests were held across the country, and on the eve of one of the matches, authorities were forced to declare a state of emergency in Queensland ^[59] . The tour itself ended with a convincing victory for the guests ^[60] . The November series of Wallaby matches in France did not reveal the winner ^[61] . The French team held the return tour in 1972 - a draw was recorded in one of the matches, and in the other “roosters” won with the smallest possible advantage ^[62] . Australia won only one match that season. On September 19, the Wallabis beat Fiji in Suva (19:21), and before that they had failed a series of matches against New Zealand ^[63] .

In 1973, Tonga rugby players challenged the Australians. Two meetings of representatives of Oceania found parity of rivals ^[64] . The autumn tour to Britain, according to the already established trend, did not bring the team significant gains. Having played with Wales (0:24) and England (3:20), Australian rugby players did not bring a single attempt ^[65] . Six months later, the New Zealanders crossed the Tasman Sea , who inflicted two defeats on Wallabis ^[66] .

The 1975 season is notable for two home victories over England ^[67] and the first meetings of the Australians with the Japanese team, which ended in convincing victories ^[68] . Two months at the turn of 1975 and 1976, the yellow-green spent in the Northern Hemisphere . In matches with Scotland, Wales and England, the guests did not create a single attempt, but the confrontations with Ireland and the United States were more productive ^[69] . In the summer, rugby players defeated Fiji three times ^[70] , and by the end of the year again headed to Europe. Both matches with the French only worsened the statistics of the Australians ^[71] , in the next season the team did not play at all.

An Australian Welsh tour in 1978 allowed kangaroo representatives to take revenge for their recent loss to the British ^[72] . Later, “Wallabis” held three test matches in New Zealand, one of which they were able to win, and in the other they let All Black go ahead by only one point ^[73] . Success in the last game was achieved largely thanks to the efforts of Greg Cornelsen, who made four attempts. In 79, the Irish were even with Australia, who several years ago had given way to their homes ^[74] . Soon after, the team held the only meeting with the New Zealanders, following which for the first time since 1949 they won the Bledislow Cup ^{[75] [27]} . The last significant event of the seventies was a paired test game with Argentina, in which both teams won one victory ^[76] .

1980s

At the end of the season — 1980, the Bledislow Cup went to the Australians. For several decades of the competition, this trophy went to the continent only for the fourth time ^[77] . This triumph marks the beginning of an era of success for Australian rugby players. In 1984, a young national team led by new coach Alan Jones toured the UK and Ireland. As a result of the tour, the Australians received the Grand Slam awarded to the winner of all four teams of the British Isles ^[78] . The 1984 Wallabis became one of the strongest Australian teams in history. The national team set several records, in particular, Mark Ella entered the attempts in all the tour matches ^[27] .

Current squad

Update: June 19, 2017 ^[79] .

Individual Records

Most National Team Games

Last updated: June 23, 2017. Hereinafter, only matches officially registered by the rugby union are included in the statistics ^[80] .

Most Attempts

Last updated: June 23, 2017 ^[81] .