History of rugby union matches between Australia and the Barbarians explained
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]
Summary
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.
Overall
| 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 | |
|---|
Records
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) | |
Matches
| No. | Date | Venue | Score | Winner | Competition |
|---|
| 1 | 31 January 1948 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 9–6 | Barbarians | 1947–48 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland, France and North America |
|---|
| 2 | 22 February 1958 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 11–6 | Barbarians | 1957–58 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland and France |
|---|
| 3 | 28 January 1967 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 11–17 | | 1966–67 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland and France |
|---|
| 4 | 24 January 1976 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 19–7 | Barbarians | 1975–76 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland and the United States |
|---|
| 5 | 15 December 1984 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 30–37 | | 1984 Australia tour of Great Britain and Ireland |
|---|
| 6 | 26 November 1988 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | 22–40 | | 1988 Australia tour of Great Britain and Italy |
|---|
| 7 | 28 November 1992 | Twickenham Stadium, London | 20–30 | | 1992 Australia tour of Great Britain and Ireland |
|---|
| 8 | 7 December 1996 | Twickenham Stadium, London | 12–39 | | 1996 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland and Italy |
|---|
| 9 | 28 November 2001 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | 35–49 | | 2001 Australia tour of Great Britain, France and Spain |
|---|
| 10 | 3 December 2008 | Wembley Stadium, London | 11–18 | | 2008 Australia tour of Great Britain, Italy and France |
|---|
| 11 | 6 June 2009 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | 55–7 | | 2009 Summer International |
|---|
| 12 | 26 November 2011 | Twickenham Stadium, London | 11–60 | | 2011 Autumn International |
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| 13 | 1 November 2014 | Twickenham Stadium, London | 36–40 | | 2014 Autumn International |
|---|
| 14 | 28 October 2017 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | 31–28 | | 2017 Autumn International | |
|---|
Notes and References
- Web site: Davies . Sean . History of the Barbarians . BBC Sport . 26 March 2023 . 5 December 2007.
