Australia national rugby union team: Difference between revisions

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Australien
File:Wallabies logo.jpg
Union	Australian Rugby Union
First International British and Irish Lions 3 - 13 Australia (24 June, 1899)
Largest win Namibia 0 - 142 Australia (25 October, 2003)
Worst defeat South Africa 61 - 22 Australia (23 August, 1997)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1987)
Best result	Champions, 1991, 1999

The Wallabies are the Australian national rugby union team. They won the Rugby World Cup in 1991 and 1999, and lost in the final match in extra time to England in 2003.

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 club, which was formed in 1864. 10 years later in 1874 there were enough clubs to be able to create a Sydney Metropolitan competition.

The first interstate 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 4000 spectators. In 1883 the Southern Rugby Union (New South Wales) tours 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 (consisting predominently of English players) toured the Australian colonies. 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 English team toured Australia. Four Tests were played between Australia and England (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". England won all their games except the first, which was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and 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.

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 newly formed 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, competitions all but closed down in New South Wales and did so in Queensland where it did not commence again until 1928.

During the 1920s the only representative team available for the international competition were the New South Wales Waratahs, all 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. Australia win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 1934.

The Wallabies make their first tour to South Africa in 1933 for a four test series, won by South Africa three to one.

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 is played between Australia and New Zealand in 1946.

In 1947/48 The Wallabies toured the Home nations and North America. In the four tests against the Home Unions the Australian line was never crossed.

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 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.

1963 the touring Wallabies beat the Springboks in consecutive Tests, the first team to do so since the 1896 British team.

The 1971 South African tour of Australia is marred by violent anti-apartheid protests.

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 succesfull 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 and Wales. 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.

Australia's solitary slam came even later than that in 1984 as the Wallabies, coached by the controversial figure of Alan Jones and containing greats like Mark Ella, Nick Farr-Jones and David Campese, swept the board.

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. They ended up beating England in the final 12-6. 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 memorable South African World Cup in 1995 (which saw Australia being knocked out in the quarterfinals by England, their worst ever result), the creation of the Tri Nations and Super 12 tournaments, and the entire professional revolution brought rugby union much more attention and acclaim. In particular in Australia there was much more expectation for performance, when the game had more popularity and media coverage.

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 against defending champions South Africa at the 1999 World Cup after a memorable dropgoal in extra time by five-eighth Larkham (it was 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.

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.

Since, the loss in the 2003 Rugby World Cup and especially during the 2005 season, the Wallabies form was not positive where the Wallabies only won one test match out of their final nine for the year. 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.

Statistics

Most capped players

Leading try scorers

Leading point scorers

Michael Lynagh - 911
Matt Burke - 878
David Campese - 315
Paul McLean - 260
Joe Roff - 249
Stirling Mortlock - 190
Elton Flatley - 180
John Eales - 173
Tim Horan - 140
Chris Latham - 125

Famous players

External links

References

Fagan, Sean The Rugby Rebellion, RL1908 (2005)

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