charlie elliot
Whenever England take on Australia, be it football, cricket, rugby or the never-ending debate between Marmite and Vegemite, a huge rivalry always underpins the event.
Saturday will be no different with both teams looking to get back to the top after a disappointing recent campaign, with both teams hoping a win will get them back to where they want to be and give them bragging rights over the other teams. .
Here are England’s five best ever matches against the Wallabies.
2003 World Cup Final: Australia 17 – 20 England
It’s the most obvious choice, as it’s the greatest game in English rugby history.
Everyone knew exactly where they were when Jonny Wilkinson slotted a 100th-minute drop goal between the posts to give England their first and now only Rugby World Cup in Sydney.
It capped a perfect year for Clive Woodward’s side, who had previously won the Six Nations and established themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time.
Australia deserve enormous credit for their role in a truly incredible performance, fighting to the end in a truly heavyweight contest.
This result is beyond words, and its significance for England and northern hemisphere rugby, the only World Cup success for either of them.
2010: England 35 – 20 Australia
Two words… chris. Ashton.
This match will forever be remembered with extreme affection by England fans who were lucky enough to say ‘I was there’ and by England fans who had the privilege of watching live as one of the greatest tries of all time was scored.
Ashton sent the crowd cheering with a 90m run up the pitch and helped his country win 35-18.
Everything about this game was nostalgic, from the gray kit to some of the legendary players on both sides, and this was a game that would inform future generations of English rugby fans.
2016: Sydney Tour won 3-0
Australia made no mistake in their home series against South Africa in 1971 and outscored England.
Eddie Jones’ team won 3-0 with scores of 28-39, 7-23, 40-44. That dominance has lifted England to second in the world rankings and given fans hope they can bounce back from their embarrassing loss to the Wallabies at the 2015 World Cup.
No one could argue with England’s success on the tour, and the well-deserved nature of their victory demonstrated its superior quality over the series.
2019 World Cup quarterfinals: England 40 – 16 Australia
England’s dominant second half performance took them to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals and left fans dreaming of emulating their 2003 success.
Unfortunately, they fell at the final hurdle by losing to South Africa, but the match against Australia signifies the glorious days that England fans can look forward to in the future.
The star of the day was Tom Curry, who is expected to start on Saturday and his experience will be invaluable in this game. It was also Australia’s heaviest defeat in a World Cup knockout.
Kyle Sinckler scored an unexpected try in the game, becoming the sixth Propeller to score a try in a knockout game and the first in eight years.
2022: Winner of Sydney Tour of England
The last time these two teams faced each other was two years ago in 2022, with England winning the series 2-1 with a 21-17 win over the hosts thanks to tries from Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward.
With Australia winning the first Test 30-18, it looked like it could be the Wallabies’ first series win since 2006, but following two closely fought matches England emerged victorious to take the series.
It looked like Australia would bounce back in the third Test after going down 21-10, but England managed to hold on and there was hope that they would become more prevalent in their game after recent defeats where they collapsed late on.
Read more: Five key takeaways from Autumn Internationals
