Rugby World Cup 2023 – Australia National Rugby Union Team

The Australia national rugby union team are two-time winner of the Rugby World Cup, but those successes may seem a distant memory to many Wallabies fans, with both coming in the 1990s. The Wallabies are a rugby union international powerhouse with a long and intense rivalry with their trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand.

We look closer at the Australia national rugby union team, including their past successes and upcoming matches in this year’s Rugby World Cup.

World Cup Fixtures

Australia will face Wales, Fiji, Georgia, and Portugal in Pool C of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

They will go into the tournament as favourites to qualify from the Pool, but Wales and Fiji will push them for the top spot.

If Australia qualify as Pool C winners, they will face the runner-up in Pool D, likely England or Argentina, in the quarter-finals. The Wallabies full schedule, including where the matches will take place, in Pool C is as follows:

• September 8 – Australia vs Wales (Stade de France, Saint-Denis)
• September 15 – Australia vs Georgia (Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse)
• September 29 – Australia vs Portugal (OL Stadium, Lyon)
• October 5 – Australia vs Fiji (OL Stadium, Lyon)

World Cup Performance

Australia National Rugby Union Team History

The Australia national rugby union team aka the Wallabies played their first-ever game in Sydney in 1899, defeating the touring British Isles team. Well-known for their rivalry with New Zealand and England, Australia have dominated the international rugby scene for many years.

The Wallabies are one of the most successful rugby teams in the world, and they have competed in all nine Rugby World Cups, winning the tournament on two occasions and finishing as runner-up twice. 1991 saw them edge out England 12-6 in the final at Twickenham, while in 1999, they thrashed France 35-12 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

It was a golden era of success in the 1990s for Australia, winning the Rugby Championship in 1992, 1994, 1998, and 1999. That period in Australian national rugby union team history featured some of the game’s greats, including Michael Lynagh, David Campese, John Eales, and Tim Horan.

Although lacking players of that stature in recent years, the future looks bright for the Australia national rugby union team. Coach Eddie Jones has returned from his escapades in the northern hemisphere game to take the helm once more, and the Wallabies have a talented young squad with some older experienced players.

They may not win the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but this year, they are a team to watch out for.

Australia Rugby Players

The Australia national rugby union team will play five games in preparation for the Rugby World Cup. They will take on Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa in the annual Rugby Championship in July, which has been shortened due to the upcoming RWC.

The Wallabies will then face the All Blacks in a second test match for the Bledisloe Cup in Dunedin at the start of August before playing France in a pre-World Cup match.

Below is the likely Australian squad for the Rugby Championship, which will be close to their named World Cup lineup. Let’s go over the Australian players.