The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the number of matches played in each tournament, but it currently consists of an annual three-match series, reduced to a two-match series in World Cup years, with two of the matches counting towards The Rugby Championship. New Zealand have had the most success, winning the trophy in 2021 for the 49th time, while Australia have won the trophy 12 times.
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.
Michael Arthur Cleary AO is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league and footballer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and politician. He represented Australia in both rugby codes as well as in athletics making him one of only four Australians who have represented their country at full international level in three different sports. He represented as a Wallaby in 6 Tests in 1961 and as a Kangaroo in 8 Tests from 1962.
Northern Suburbs Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Sydney, Australia, that was formed in 1900 from the merger of the Pirates and Wallaroos clubs. The club competes in the Shute Shield competition run by the New South Wales Rugby Union. The club has produced 42 Wallaby representatives. The club's home ground is the historic North Sydney Oval on the North Shore of Sydney. The ground has been a venue for both codes of rugby and for cricket over more than a century.
John Edward Thornett, MBE was an Australian rugby union player, who played 37 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1967 and made an additional 77 representative match appearances. He captained Australia in 16 Test matches and on an additional 47 tour matches on the eight international rugby tours he made with Wallaby squads.
Kenneth William Catchpole was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through the ranks at the Randwick club as a young man, before making his debut for New South Wales at only 19 years of age, then captaining Australia at age 21. He is considered one of Australia's greatest rugby scrumhalves.
Richard Norman Thornett was one of five Australians to have represented their country in three sports. He was an Olympic water polo player before becoming a rugby league and rugby union player – a dual code international representative.
Ken Thornett, also known by the nickname of "The Mayor of Parramatta", was an Australian rugby league fullback. He represented the Kangaroos in twelve Tests during 1963 and 1964 and on the off-season Kangaroo Tour.
Between late 1957 and March 1958 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour encompassing Britain, Ireland, France and Canada on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. The Wallabies won 17, lost 16 and drew three of their games in total. They lost all five Tests of the tour.
The first clash in Rugby Union between Australia and New Zealand took place in a test match on 15 August 1903 in Sydney, New South Wales. On that occasion, New Zealand won 22–3.
Between October 1966 and March 1967 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. Under the captaincy of John Thornett they toured UK, Ireland, France and Canada winning nineteen matches, losing fourteen and drawing three. At one stage they failed to win in four successive matches although in the Test match against England they gave the home side its heaviest defeat in 16 years. The tour marked the climax of the successful "Thornett Era" of Australian Rugby, buoyed by the leadership skills of skipper John Thornett and the outstanding abilities of greats of the game like Ken Catchpole, Peter Johnson and Rob Heming. Dick Marks and Peter Crittle also toured and would later become among the most influential administrators of Australian rugby.
James Kenneth Michael Lenehan was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative versatile back, he played twenty-four Test matches for Australia, once as captain. His national representative career spanned a ten-year period during which time he made two grand Wallaby tours to the northern hemisphere and Home Nations and numerous appearances against New Zealand and South Africa.
The 1968 New Zealand tour rugby to Australia and Fiji was the 21st tour by the New Zealand national rugby union team to Australia and it ended with a match at Fiji.
The 1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of twenty matches played by the Australia national rugby union team between June and September 1963. The Wallabies tied the series with the Springboks winning two and losing two Tests.
The 1964 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of eight matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in August 1964.
The 1961 Australia rugby union tour of Southern Africa was a series of six rugby union matches played by the Wallabies in July and August 1961.
Gregory Victor Davis was a New Zealand born, national representative rugby union player for Australia. He played at flanker and made seven international tours with Wallaby squads. He was the Australian national captain in 47 matches from 1969 to 1972 and led the Wallaby side on three overseas tours.
Peter George Johnson was an Australian international rugby union player. He enjoyed a long state and international career throughout the 1960s and made 92 national appearances for his country. He captained the Australian side in five Test matches.
Richard James Pickett Marks, is an Australian former rugby union footballer and noted administrator. He played 17 Tests for Australia between 1962 and 1967, and was a captain of Queensland, for whom he played from 1962 to 1972. He served as national coaching director from 1974 to 1995, and was a leading figure in lifting the standard of Australian rugby. He also served on the Board of Queensland Rugby and was an inaugural member of rugby's International Technical Committee and drafter of the Game’s Charter. He received the Joe French Award for his contributions to Australian rugby in 2014, and remains active in debates on governance of Australian rugby. In 2020, he was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. He is the grandfather of Queensland Reds player Curtis Browning.
Charles Peter Crittle AO is an Australian former barrister, rugby union player and official. The majority of his secondary education was at Sydney Boys High School where he played in the First XV. Before then he was briefly at North Sydney Boys High School. As a lock, he made 15 test match appearances for the Australia national rugby union team from 1962–1967.
New Zealand 
