Australia national under-20 rugby union team explained

Country:Australia
Union:Rugby Australia
Nickname:Junior Wallabies
Coach:Nathan Grey
Pattern La1:_wallabies19h
Pattern B1:_wallabies19h
Pattern Ra1:_wallabies19h
Pattern So1:_australia22
Leftarm1:F6970B
Body1:F6970B
Rightarm1:F6970B
Shorts1:004044
Socks1:F6970B
First: 81–12
(6 June 2008; Rodney Parade, Newport)
Bigwin: 91–7
(1 May 2018; Bond Sports Park, Gold Coast)
Bigloss: 12–69
(10 July 2022; SC Stadium, Bokarina)
World Cup Apps:14 (First in 2008)
Best:Runners-up (2010, 2019)

The Australia national under-20 rugby union team, nicknamed the Junior Wallabies, is the national under-20 rugby union team that represents Australia. The team has been competing at the annual World Rugby U20 Championship since it began in 2008, replacing the previously held under-19 and under-21 championships. The team also competes at the Oceania U20 Championship as of 2015 and the U20 Rugby Championship since 2024.

Australia's highest finish at the World Rugby U20 Championship was second-place in 2010 and 2019. The team finished third in 2011 by beating France in the third place playoff, and fourth in 2009 after losing to South Africa 32–5 in the third place playoff. The Junior Wallabies also finished second in the first four editions of the Oceania U20 Championship before being crowned champions in 2019 after defeating New Zealand 24–0.[1] [2] [3]

Team name

The Junior Wallabies name was incorporated into the Australian under-20 crest prior to the 2018 season, but the name was also previously applied to several other teams in the history of Australian rugby. In the era of amateur rugby from the 1950s onwards, the Junior Wallabies team was selected from uncapped players (with no age restriction) to play against touring Test sides or to represent Australia on goodwill tours to Asia and the Pacific. Media publications sometimes also used the name Junior Wallabies to refer to age-graded national teams such as the Australian under-19 side, Australian Schoolboys, and later the Australian under-20 team.

Overall record

Summary for all competitive test matches up to and including the 2024 season:

Opponent
8305% 162145 +17
2200% 16712 +155
8116% 165204 –39
8800% 352125 +228
7304% 178170 +8
1100% 3511 +24
4202% 9884 +14
7601% 23291 +141
3300% 16564 +101
174013% 348597 –249
6600% 22894 +134
6402% 218104 +114
4202% 84132 –48
4400% 25225 +227
6501% 204133 +71
Total9154136% 2,7881,991 +797

World Rugby U20 Championship record

width=100px scope="col"YearRoundwidth=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"
2008Fifth place540122168
2009Fourth place530218674
2010Runners-up5401239131
2011Third place5302166117
2012Eighth place510410794
2013Seventh place520311484
2014Fifth place5401176101
2015Fifth place5401136110
2016Sixth place5203120116
2017Sixth place5302135106
2018Fifth place5302178103
2019Runners-up5302171122
2023Fifth place5311179157
2024Sixth place42028971
2025colspan=7
Total69411272,2171,454

U20 Rugby Championship record

width=100px scope="col"YearRoundwidth=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"
2024Fourth place31025580
2025colspan=7
Total31035580

Oceania Rugby U20 Championship record

width=100px scope="col"YearRoundwidth=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"width=55px scope="col"
2015Runners-up320110987
2016Runners-up21013554
2017Runners-up32018187
2018Runners-up320117055
2019Champions330010414
2022Third place31029198
Total171106590395

Head coaches

Honours

World Junior Championship
Oceania Junior Championship

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 5 May 2019 . Rugby – Junior Wallabies beat New Zealand to win Oceania under-20s crown . .
  2. News: Decent . Tom . Junior Wallabies thumping of NZ provides lift game desperately needs . 5 May 2019 . live . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190505175249/https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/junior-wallabies-thumping-of-nz-provides-lift-game-desperately-needs-20190505-p51kav.html . 5 May 2019 .
  3. News: subscription . Junior Wallabies deliver good news with Oceania title win over New Zealand . 6 May 2019 . . .
  4. Web site: Williamson . Nathan . Junior Wallabies name squad for Oceania Tournament . rugby.com.au . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618031200/https://www.rugby.com.au/news/junior-wallabies-name-squad-for-oceania-tournament-2021617 . 18 June 2021 . 18 June 2021.