How the Wallabies started
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa in the The Rugby Championship, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the Mandela Challenge Plate with South Africa. Australia are currently ranked third in the IRB World Rankings and hold the Mandela Plate.
Australia have competed in all seven Rugby World Cups, and have won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 against England, and in 1999 against France. Australia also lost in the final after extra time to England in the 2003 competition. Australia are governed by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). Seven former Australian players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with one of those also having been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. Another former Australia player is a member of the IRB Hall for other accomplishments in the sport.
