The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's 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.
Richard Hugh McCaw is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award a joint record three times and was the most capped test rugby player of all time from August 2015 to October 2020. McCaw was awarded World Rugby player of the decade (2011–2020) in 2021. McCaw is also a winner of the New Zealand sportsman of the decade award.
George Smith is an Australian retired rugby union player. He was a flanker for 12 years (2000–10,13) at the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby, earning 142 caps.
Radike Samo is an Australian retired rugby union player. He plays lock, flanker, number 8 and can even play on the wing.
Rugby union in Australia has a history of organised competition dating back to the late 1860s. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation.
Michael Cheika is an Australian professional dual-code rugby coach and former player who is head coach of Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby.
Adam Ashley-Cooper is a former Australian rugby union player who last played for the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). He has played in 121 matches for Australia, the third most of any Australia player at the time of his retirement. His nickname is "Mr. Versatile". He is currently the senior assistant coach for backs with the LA Giltinis.
Mark Chisholm is a retired Australian rugby union player. Chisholm usually played as a lock, but could also cover blindside flanker.
Digby Ioane is an Australian professional rugby union footballer who played for the Colorado Raptors in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Stephen Thomas Moore is an Australian former rugby union footballer, who played Super Rugby for the Brumbies and Queensland Reds and has 129 caps for Australia internationally, including 24 tests as captain.
Quade Santini Cooper is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia in rugby at international level. He currently plays for Hanazono Liners in Japan, and is a former player for the Queensland Reds and the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby competition in Australia. His preferred position is fly-half.
Ewen James Andrew McKenzie is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his test career. McKenzie was head coach of the Australian team from 2013 to 2014. He has coached in both southern and northern hemispheres, in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Reds, and in France at Top 14 side Stade Français. During his playing days he was a prop and, in a representative career spanning from 1987 to 1997, he played nine seasons for the NSW Waratahs and two for the ACT Brumbies.
David Willmer Pocock is an Australian politician and former professional rugby union player. Raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe, Pocock moved to Australia as a teenager and played for the Australia national rugby team. He played primarily at openside flanker, and was vice captain of the Brumbies in Super Rugby. After his retirement, Pocock worked as a conservationist and social justice advocate. In the 2022 Australian federal election, Pocock ran as an independent candidate for one of the Australian Capital Territory's two Senate seats. He defeated Liberal incumbent senator Zed Seselja, ending the two major parties' duopoly on the ACT's Senate delegation which had been in place since the ACT was granted Senate representation in 1975.
Matthew Papali'i To'omua is an Australian rugby union professional player who has played close to 60 times for Australia since 2013. He plays for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in the Japanese League One and his usual position is at fly-half or inside centre. He has previously played for the Brumbies in Australia, for Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby and for Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby.
James Alexander Slipper is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Super Rugby club ACT Brumbies and captains the Australia national team.
Michael Kent Hooper is an Australian former professional rugby union player who is the former captain of the Australia national team, the Wallabies. His primary position is openside flanker.
Tevita Kuridrani is a Fijian-born Australian rugby union player. His usual position is outside-centre. He is currently with French club Biarritz and previously played for the Brumbies and Western Force in Super Rugby. Kuridrani has sixty caps for Australia in international rugby.
Duncan Paia'aua is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Top 14 club Toulon. Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level.
The 2020 Tri Nations Series was the seventeenth edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. On 16 October 2020, 2019 Rugby Championship winners and 2019 Rugby World Cup champions South Africa confirmed their withdrawal from the originally planned 2020 Rugby Championship due to South African government travel restrictions, player welfare and safety concerns related to COVID-19. This meant that the competition temporarily returned to its previous Tri-Nations format - played across six weekends with each team playing each other twice.
The 2021 Rugby Championship was the ninth series of the annual southern-hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Springboks returned to the tournament after a year out in 2020 due to South African government travel restrictions and player welfare and safety concerns related to COVID-19. The tournament returned to its normal window of August, kicking-off on 14 August and concluding on 2 October.
