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History of rugby union matches between Australia and the Barbarians

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  Australia 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  Australia 1984 Australia tour of Great Britain and Ireland
6 26 November 1988 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 22–40  Australia 1988 Australia tour of Great Britain and Italy
7 28 November 1992 Twickenham Stadium, London 20–30  Australia 1992 Australia tour of Great Britain and Ireland
8 7 December 1996 Twickenham Stadium, London 12–39  Australia 1996 Australia tour of Great Britain, Ireland and Italy
9 28 November 2001 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 35–49  Australia 2001 Australia tour of Great Britain, France and Spain
10 3 December 2008 Wembley Stadium, London 11–18  Australia 2008 Australia tour of Great Britain, Italy and France
11 6 June 2009 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 55–7  Australia 2009 Summer International
12 26 November 2011 Twickenham Stadium, London 11–60  Australia 2011 Autumn International
13 1 November 2014 Twickenham Stadium, London 36–40  Australia 2014 Autumn International
14 28 October 2017 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 31–28  Australia 2017 Autumn International

References

  1. ^ Davies, Sean (5 December 2007). "History of the Barbarians". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

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