Australia national under-20 rugby union team

Junior Wallabies
Union Rugby Australia
Coach(es) Nathan Grey
Team kit
First international
Australia 81–12 Canada
(6 June 2008)
Largest win
Australia 91–7 Tonga
(1 May 2019)
Largest defeat
Australia 12–69 New Zealand
(10 July 2022)
World Cup
Appearances 7 (First in 2008)
Best result Runners-up, 2010 and 2019
Logo 2008–2017

The Junior Wallabies is the national under-20 team that represents Australia playing rugby union. The team has been competing at the annual World Rugby U20 Championship since it began in 2008, replacing the previously held under-19 and under-21 championships. The team also competes at the Oceania U20 Championship as of 2015.

Australia's highest finish at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship was as runner-up in 2010 and 2019. The team finished third in 2011 by beating France in the third place playoff, and fourth in 2009 after losing to South Africa 32–5 in the third place playoff.

Team name

The Junior Wallabies name was incorporated into the Australian under-20 crest prior to the 2018 season, but the name was also previously applied to several other teams in the history of Australian rugby. In the era of amateur rugby from the 1950s onwards, the Junior Wallabies team was selected from uncapped players (with no age restriction) to play against touring Test sides  or to represent Australia on goodwill tours to Asia and the Pacific. Media publications sometimes also used the name Junior Wallabies to refer to age-graded national teams such as the Australian under 19 side, Australian Schoolboys, and later the Australian under 20 team.

Overall record

Summary for all under 20 matches at the World and Oceania championships up to and including the 2023 World Rugby Championship:

Opposition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won
Argentina 6 3 0 3 50%
Canada 2 2 0 0 100%
England 8 1 1 6 13%
Fiji 8 8 0 0 100%
France 7 3 0 4 43%
Ireland 4 2 0 2 50%
Italy 6 6 0 0 100%
Japan 3 3 0 0 100%
New Zealand 15 4 0 12 27%
Samoa 6 6 0 0 100%
Scotland 6 4 0 2 67%
South Africa 3 1 0 2 33%
Tonga 4 4 0 0 100%
Wales 5 4 0 1 80%
Total  84  51  1  32  61%

World Rugby U20 Championship record

Year Round Position Pld W D L PF PA
2008 5th place 5th 5 4 0 1 221 68
2009 Semi-finals 4th 5 3 0 2 186 74
2010 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 239 131
2011 Semi-finals 3rd 5 3 0 2 166 117
2012 8th place 8th 5 1 0 4 107 94
2013 7th place 7th 5 2 0 3 114 84
2014 5th place 5th 5 4 0 1 176 101
2015 5th place 5th 5 4 0 1 136 110
2016 6th place 6th 5 2 0 3 120 116
2017 6th place 6th 5 3 0 2 135 106
2018 5th place 5th 5 3 0 2 178 103
2019 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 0 2 171 122
2023 5th place 5th 5 3 1 1 179 157
Total 13/13 0 titles 65 39 1 25 2,128 1,383

Oceania Rugby U20 Championship record

Year Round Position Pld W D L PF PA
2015 Runners-up 2nd 3 2 0 1 109 87
2016 Runners-up 2nd 2 1 0 1 35 54
2017 Runners-up 2nd 3 2 0 1 81 87
2018 Runners-up 2nd 3 2 0 1 170 55
2019 Champions 1st 3 3 0 0 104 14
2022 3rd place 3rd 3 1 0 2 91 98
Total 6/6 1 title 17 11 0 6 590 395

Head coaches

Honours

World Junior Championship
Oceania Junior Championship
  • Winners (1): 2019
  • Runners-up (4): 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

See also