History of rugby union matches between Australia and England

The rivalry between the England and Australia national rugby union teams started on 9 January 1909 at Blackheath's Rectory Field in England, during the 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, dubbed the 1st Wallabies. The Wallabies won the match 9–3. The two nations next met in 1928, at Twickenham, during the 1927–28 Waratahs tour of the British Isles, France and Canada and England won 18–11. After the 1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II, twenty years passed before England and Australia next met, again at Twickenham, with Australia winning the 1948 test 11–0. It would then be another decade until the two nations played another test against one another. In 1958, they met again at Twickenham, and England won 9–6.

England and Australia played each other twice during the 1960s, first in 1963, when the Wallabies defeated England 18–9 at Sydney's Sports Ground, during England’s first tour overseas. They met again in 1967 during the 1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France and Australia triumphed 23–11 at Twickenham. The nations played each other another four times during the 1970s; with England winning 20–3 at Twickenham in 1973, Australia winning 16–9 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1975 and again one week later 30–21 at Ballymore during the 1975 England rugby union tour of Australia, and England winning in 1976, 23–6 at Twickenham, as part of the 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and the United States.

The two nations would meet six times during the 1980s, the first encounter was in 1982, during the 1981–82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland with England defeating Australia 15–11 at Twickenham. Two years later the Wallabies were victorious at Twickenham, winning 19–3 on their way to winning their first and up to now only Grand Slam. The next match was a pool match in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup at Sydney's Concord Oval in 1987, which Australia won 19–6. The nations played three times in 1988: Australia won 22–16 in Brisbane and 28–8 at the Concord Oval, during the 1988 England rugby union tour of Australia and Fiji with England winning the third and final match at Twickenham 28–19.

The sides met three times during the 1990s before the end of the amateur era and the introduction of the Cook Cup. The first match was in 1991 at the Sydney Football Stadium, won 40–15 by Australia. The next match was the 1991 Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham, which the Wallabies won 12–6. with Tony Daly scoring the only try of the game. The last pre-Cook Cup match was a quarter-final tie at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. England won 25–22, thanks to a last-minute drop goal by Rob Andrew.

Cook Cup and Ella–Mobbs Trophy (since 1997)

The Cook Cup came about at the start of Rugby Union's professional era, when the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) agreed to play each other on a home-and-away basis. The first Cook Cup match was played at the Sydney Football Stadium on 25 June 1997. Australia won the match 25–6. The series was however to be decided through two tests, and the second took place at Twickenham in London, this resulted in a 15–15 draw. Since Australia won the first test, they were crowned champions.

In 1998 Australia ran out 76-0 winners at Lang Park in Brisbane. The Wallabies were captained by John Eales, and in total, Australia scored 11 tries against a weakened England side. The subsequent meeting at Twickenham saw England lose by just one point, the score being 12–11. In 1999, the Cook Cup was decided through one match rather than two, as the 1999 Rugby World Cup meant that there was no space in the schedule for a November test match between the countries. Australia defeated England 22–15 at Stadium Australia. In 2000, the Cook Cup was again contested over a single match, due to the 2001 British Lions tour to Australia, and for the first time saw England and Australia meet as reigning champions of their respective hemispheres. The match was played at Twickenham, and England won 22–19 to win the Cook Cup for the first time.

The single-test format remained for 2002, and England successfully defended the Cook Cup by beating Australia 32–31 at Twickenham. In 2003, the Cook Cup was again decided over one match, owing to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The match was played at Melbourne's Telstra Dome, and England won 25–14, marking their first ever victory over Australia on Australian soil. Later that year, England repeated the feat when the two nations met in what is arguably their most famous encounter, at the 2003 World Cup final. Jonny Wilkinson landed a drop goal in extra time that saw England win the Rugby World Cup 20–17.

The 2004 Cook Cup was contested over two matches. The first post-World Cup edition of the challenge saw Australia beat England in Brisbane in June and then again in London in November to reclaim the Cook Cup for the first time since 1999. The 2005 Cook Cup was contested over a single test, which England won 26–16 at Twickenham. In June 2006 the countries played a two-match test series in Australia, with the home team winning both matches to regain the Cup.

The Cook Cup has been contested nearly every year since, with the exception of the World Cup years (2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019). Australia retained the cup in 2008, 2009 and the mid-year tests of 2010, before England regained it in the 2010 end-of-year tests. Australia regained the cup in 2012, but since then England have dominated the series, winning it outright in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2025. The match scheduled for Twickenham in November 2020 did not take place, making 2020 the first non-World Cup year this century in which the Cook Cup has not been contested.

The Cook Cup was renamed the Ella–Mobbs Trophy from the July 2022 series.

Since 1909, England and Australia have played each other 57 times. England lead the series by 29 wins to 27, with one match drawn.

Summary Overall DetailsPlayedWon byAustraliaWon byEnglandDrawnAustralia pointsEngland pointsIn England3112181515611In Australia231580641404Neutral venue30304877Overall57272911,2041,092

Records Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was last set. RecordAustraliaEnglandLongest winning streak4 8 Largest points forHome76 37 Away42 44 Largest winning marginHome76 24 Away20 16 Neutral24

Results No. Date Venue City Score Winner Competition19 January 1909Rectory FieldBlackheath3–91908–09 Australia tour27 January 1928TwickenhamLondon18–111927–28 New South Wales tour33 January 1948TwickenhamLondon0–1141 February 1958TwickenhamLondon9–61957–58 Australia tour54 June 1963Sports GroundSydney18–91963 England tour67 January 1967TwickenhamLondon11–231966–67 Australia tour717 November 1973TwickenhamLondon20–31973 Australia tour824 May 1975SCGSydney16–91975 England tour931 May 1975BallymoreBrisbane30–21 103 January 1976TwickenhamLondon23–61975–76 Australia tour112 January 1982TwickenhamLondon15–111981–82 Australia tour123 November 1984TwickenhamLondon3–191984 Australia tour1323 May 1987Concord OvalSydney19–61987 Rugby World Cup Pool match1429 May 1988BallymoreBrisbane22–161988 England tour1512 June 1988Concord OvalSydney28–8 165 November 1988TwickenhamLondon28–191988 Australia tour1727 July 1991Football StadiumSydney40–151991 England tour182 November 1991TwickenhamLondon6–121991 Rugby World Cup Final1911 June 1995NewlandsCape Town 25–221995 Rugby World Cup Quarter-final2012 July 1997Football StadiumSydney25–61997 England tour2115 November 1997TwickenhamLondon15–15draw1997 end-of-year Tests226 June 1998Lang ParkBrisbane76–01998 England tour2328 November 1998TwickenhamLondon11–12 1998 end-of-year Tests2426 June 1999Stadium AustraliaSydney22–151999 England tour2518 November 2000TwickenhamLondon22–192000 end-of-year rugby union internationals2610 November 2001TwickenhamLondon21–152001 end-of-year Tests2716 November 2002TwickenhamLondon32–312002 end-of-year rugby union internationals2821 June 2003Docklands StadiumMelbourne14–252003 England tour2922 November 2003Stadium AustraliaSydney17–202003 Rugby World Cup Final3026 June 2004Lang ParkBrisbane51–152004 England tour3127 November 2004TwickenhamLondon19–212004 end-of-year rugby union internationals3212 November 2005TwickenhamLondon26–162005 end-of-year rugby union internationals3311 June 2006Stadium AustraliaSydney34–32006 England tour3417 June 2006Docklands StadiumMelbourne43–18 356 October 2007Stade VélodromeMarseille 10–122007 Rugby World Cup Quarter-final3615 November 2008TwickenhamLondon14–282008 end-of-year rugby union internationals377 November 2009TwickenhamLondon9–182009 end-of-year rugby union internationals3812 June 2010Subiaco OvalPerth27–172010 England tour3919 June 2010Stadium AustraliaSydney20–21 4013 November 2010TwickenhamLondon35–182010 end-of-year rugby union internationals4117 November 2012TwickenhamLondon14–202012 end-of-year rugby union internationals422 November 2013TwickenhamLondon20–132013 end-of-year rugby union internationals4329 November 2014TwickenhamLondon26–172014 end-of-year rugby union internationals443 October 2015TwickenhamLondon13–332015 Rugby World Cup Pool match4511 June 2016Lang ParkBrisbane28–392016 England tour4618 June 2016Melbourne Rectangular StadiumMelbourne7–23 4725 June 2016Football StadiumSydney40–44483 December 2016TwickenhamLondon37–212016 end-of-year rugby union internationals4918 November 2017TwickenhamLondon30–62017 end-of-year rugby union internationals5024 November 2018TwickenhamLondon37–182018 end-of-year rugby union internationals5119 October 2019Ōita StadiumŌita 40–162019 Rugby World Cup Quarter-final5213 November 2021TwickenhamLondon32–152021 end-of-year rugby union internationals532 July 2022Perth StadiumPerth30–282022 England tour549 July 2022Lang ParkBrisbane17–255516 July 2022SCGSydney17–21569 November 2024TwickenhamLondon37–422024 end-of-year rugby union internationals571 November 2025TwickenhamLondon25–72025 end-of-year rugby union internationals

List of series PlayedWon byAustraliaWon byEnglandDrawn6321

Year Australia England Series winner Ella–Mobbs Trophy 197520rowspan=2 align=center 198820 200620 201011draw 201603 202212

Venues .

In Australia LocationStadiumSydney, New South Wales Sydney Sports Ground1 align=center Sydney Cricket Ground 11 Concord Oval2 align=center Sydney Football Stadium21 Stadium Australia22Brisbane, Queensland Ballymore Stadium2 align=center Lang Park22Melbourne, Victoria Docklands Stadium 11 Melbourne Rectangular Stadium align=center 1Perth, Western Australia Subiaco Oval 1 align=center Perth Stadium 1 align=center Overall158

In England City/RegionStadium Drawn Blackheath Rectory Field align=center 1 align=center London Twickenham 18111Overall18121

Notes

References