Australia and the Barbarians have played each other 12 times, of which Australia has won the most, with nine victories.
The first match between the teams was played at Cardiff Arms Park on 31 January 1948 as a fundraiser to help pay for the Australian team's matches in Canada on their way home. The Barbarians won 9–6, and the match began a tradition for teams from the Southern Hemisphere to end tours of the British Isles with a match against the Barbarians. [1]
The summary below is for all matches where test caps were awarded by both national unions, which leaves out all 24 meetings from 1920 to 1928, in which the governing New Zealand Rugby Union fielded the second level New Zealand XV team rather than the highest All Blacks team. The Australian Rugby Union retroactively awarded test status caps to its own players for those matches.
| Details | Played | Won by Australia | Won by Barbarians | Drawn | Australia points | Barbarian points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 35 |
| In Great Britain | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 349 | 227 |
| Overall | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 435 | 262 |
Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
| Record | Australia | Barbarians |
|---|---|---|
| Longest winning streak | 10 (15 December 1984 – present) | 2 (31 January 1948 – 28 January 1967) |
| Largest points for | ||
| Home | 55 (6 June 2009) | 36 (1 November 2014) |
| Away | 60 (26 November 2011) | 28 (28 October 2017) |
| Largest winning margin | ||
| Home | 48 (6 June 2009) | 12 (24 January 1976) |
| Away | 49 (26 November 2011) | — |
| Most aggregate points | ||
| 84 (Barbarians 35–49 Australia) (28 November 2001) | ||
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