The Australia national rugby union team, known as the Wallabies, has played in all ten Rugby World Cup tournaments. They have won the World Cup on two occasions; only New Zealand and South Africa have won more. Australia has hosted or co-hosted the tournament twice – in 1987 and 2003, and is scheduled to host it in 2027.
By position
By tournament
1987 New Zealand & Australia Pool 1
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Third place play-off
1991 UK, Ireland and France Pool 3
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
1995 South Africa Pool A
Quarter-final
1999 Wales Pool E
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
2003 Australia Pool A
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
2007 France
Quarter-final
2011 New Zealand Pool C
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Third place play-off
2015 England Pool A
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Final
2019 Japan
Quarter-final
Hosting
1987 Australia hosted the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 along with New Zealand. Two stadiums in Australia were used.
City Stadium Capacity Brisbane Ballymore Stadium 24,000 Sydney Concord Oval 20,000 Most of the pool games were in New Zealand, but the semi-finals, and one of the quarter-finals, were played in Australia.
2003 Australia won the right to host the World Cup in 2003 without the involvement of New Zealand after a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The overall stadium capacity was reduced from the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales.
The Adelaide Oval underwent a A$20 million redevelopment for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, financed entirely by the South Australian Cricket Association, with two new grandstands built adjacent to the Victor Richardson Gates. Lang Park in Brisbane was a new venue designed specifically for rugby, built at a cost of A$280 million, and was opened just before the start of the 2003 World Cup. The Central Coast Stadium was also a newly built venue, and opened in February 2000 at a cost of A$30 million.
The Sydney Football Stadium was one of two venues in Sydney that were used for football during the 2000 Olympic Games. The other venue in Sydney was the Stadium Australia which was the centrepiece of the 2000 Olympic Games. Also known as Stadium Australia, Telstra Stadium was built at a cost of over A$600 million and was the biggest stadium used in the 2003 World Cup. The only stadium with a retractable roof used was the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.
Stadium Games City State Capacity Highest attendance Stadium Australia 7 Sydney New South Wales 83,500 82,957 (Final: Australia vs England) Sydney Football Stadium 5 Sydney New South Wales 41,159 37,137 (Scotland vs. Fiji) Central Coast Stadium 3 Gosford New South Wales 20,119 19,653 (Japan vs. United States) Wollongong Showground 2 Wollongong New South Wales 18,484 17,833 (France vs. United States) Lang Park 9 Brisbane Queensland 52,500 48,778 (Australia vs. Romania) Willows Sports Complex 3 Townsville Queensland 24,843 21,309 (France vs. Japan) Docklands Stadium 7 Melbourne Victoria 53,371 54,206 (Australia vs. Ireland) Subiaco Oval 5 Perth Western Australia 42,922 38,834 (South Africa vs. England) Canberra Stadium 4 Canberra Australian Capital Territory 24,647 22,641 (Italy vs. Wales) Adelaide Oval 2 Adelaide South Australia 33,597 33,000 (Australia vs. Namibia) York Park 1 Launceston Tasmania 19,891 15,457 (Namibia vs. Romania) Australia intended to bid for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, but withdrew from the bidding. The bids were awarded to England and Japan respectively.
2027
Australia won their bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup on 12 May 2022. The tournament will take place between 10 September and 27 October, 2027.
Overall record Opponent Played Win Draw Lost Win % 3 3 0 0 100% 2 2 0 0 100% 7 3 0 4 43% 4 3 0 1 75% 2 1 0 1 50% 2 2 0 0 100% 5 4 0 1 80% 1 1 0 0 100% 2 2 0 0 100% 1 1 0 0 100% 4 2 0 2 50% 1 1 0 0 100% 3 3 0 0 100% 1 1 0 0 100% 1 1 0 0 100% 2 2 0 0 100% 3 2 0 1 67% 3 3 0 0 100% 2 2 0 0 100% 8 5 0 3 71% Overall 57 44 0 13 79%
Team records Most points in a tournament 345 – 2003 225 – 2007 222 – 2015 221 – 1999 211 – 2011
Most points in a game 142 – vs , 2003 91 – vs , 2007 90 – vs , 2003 68 – vs , 2011 67 – vs , 2011 66 – vs , 2015 57 – vs , 1999 55 – vs , 1999 55 – vs , 2007
Individual records Most World Cup matches 21 – James Slipper (2011, 2015, 2019, 2023) 20 – George Gregan (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007) 19 – Adam Ashley-Cooper (2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Most points overall 195 – Michael Lynagh (1987, 1991, 1995) 125 – Matt Burke (1995, 1999) 100 – Elton Flatley (2003) 85 – Bernard Foley (2015, 2019) 70 – Drew Mitchell (2007, 2011, 2015) 65 – Matt Giteau (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) 60 – Adam Ashley-Cooper (2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Most individual points in a game 42 – Mat Rogers vs , 2003 30 – Elton Flatley vs , 2003 28 – Bernard Foley vs , 2015 27 – Matt Giteau vs , 2007 25 – Matt Burke vs , 1999 25 – Chris Latham vs , 2003 25 – Ben Donaldson vs , 2023
Most tries overall 14 – Drew Mitchell (2007, 2011, 2015) 12 – Adam Ashley-Cooper (2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) 11 – Chris Latham (1999, 2003, 2007) 10 – David Campese (1987, 1991, 1995) 8 – Matt Giteau (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) 7 – Joe Roff (1995, 1999)
Most tries in a game 5 – Chris Latham vs , 2003 3 – Toutai Kefu vs , 1999 3 – Mat Rogers vs , 2003 3 – Lote Tuqiri vs , 2003 3 – Matt Giteau vs , 2003 3 – Rocky Elsom vs , 2003 3 – Drew Mitchell vs , 2007 3 – Adam Ashley-Cooper vs , 2011 3 – Adam Ashley-Cooper vs , 2015
Most penalty goals overall 33 – Michael Lynagh (1987, 1991, 1995) 21 – Elton Flatley (1999, 2003) 19 – Matt Burke (1995, 1999) 17 – Bernard Foley (2015, 2019) 7 – James O'Connor (2011) 7 – Ben Donaldson (2023)
Most penalty goals in a game 8 – Matt Burke vs , 1999 7 – Matt Burke vs , 1999 5 – Michael Lynagh vs , 1995 5 – Elton Flatley vs , 2003
Most drop goals 3 – Berrick Barnes (2007, 2011) 2 – Michael Lynagh (1987, 1991, 1995) 1 – George Gregan (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007) 1 – Stephen Larkham (1999, 2003, 2007) 1 – Quade Cooper (2011)
Portrayal on screen Australia can be seen playing South Africa in the feature film Invictus based on the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
References