Since 1908 Australia and Wales have competed against each other in rugby union in forty-nine matches, Australia having won thirty-four, Wales fourteen, with one draw. Since 2007 the teams have competed for the James Bevan Trophy, which was created to celebrate 100 years of rugby between the two nations. In their most recent fixture (2024), Australia won 20âÂÂ52 in Cardiff.
<small>Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.</small>
In the first 70 years, Wales won six of the eight matches. Over the next 10 years it was fairly even, but since the first World Cup in 1987, Australia has dominated by 26 wins to 6. The 2006 match ended in the second highest-scoring draw of all time, 29âÂÂ29.
Australia snatched victory in the inaugural James Bevan Trophy test match 29âÂÂ23 with a last minute try at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney on 26 May 2007. They followed this up with a 31âÂÂ0 victory at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Wales captured the trophy the following year with a 21âÂÂ18 victory in Cardiff, but since then it remained in Australian hands with 13 consecutive wins. Three victories in Cardiff in 2009âÂÂ11 were followed up by a 3âÂÂ0 series win in Australia in 2012, all by narrow margins. In the return match at Cardiff, Australia once again won with a last minute try.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup brought Australia and Wales together again for another third-place play-off, and once again it was a close finish, with Australia claiming third place in a reversal of the first World Cup in 1987, when Wales won the play-off 22âÂÂ21.
Wales ended a run of 13 consecutive defeats against Australia on 10 November 2018, winning 9âÂÂ6. They have since defeated Australia 29âÂÂ25 in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, 29âÂÂ28 in Cardiff on 20 November 2021 and a record 40âÂÂ6 in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.