2005 Australia rugby union tour of Europe

Main article: 2005 end-of-year rugby union tests
2005 Australia rugby union tour of Europe
Summary
P W D L
Total
05 02 00 03
Test match
04 01 00 03
Opponent
P W D L
 France
1 0 0 1
 England
1 0 0 1
 Ireland
1 1 0 0
 Wales
1 0 0 1

The 2005 Wallabies spring tour was a series of five matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in November 2005.

Matches

French Barbarians

1 November 2005
French Barbarians France12–42 Australia A[1]
Bordeaux

France

George Gregan played his 115th test match, beating the world record of Jason Robinson[2][3]

5 November 2005
France 26–16 Australia
Try: Heymans, Martin
Con: Élissalde 2
Pen: Élissalde 3, Michalak		Try: Mitchell
Con: Rogers
Pen: Rogers 3
Stade de France, Paris
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

France: 15. Julien Laharrague, 14. Aurélien Rougerie, 13. Florian Fritz, 12. Yannick Jauzion, 11. Cédric Heymans, 10. Frédéric Michalak, 9. Jean-Baptiste Élissalde, 8. Thomas Lièvremont, 7. Rémy Martin, 6. Yannick Nyanga, 5. Jérôme Thion, 4. Fabien Pelous (c), 3. Pieter de Villiers, 2. Dimitri Szarzewski, 1. Olivier Milloud, – Replacements: 16. Sébastien Bruno, 17. Sylvain Marconnet, 18. Lionel Nallet, 19. Grégory Lamboley, 20. Sébastien Chabal, 21. Yann Delaigue, 22. Thomas Castaignède
Australia: 15. Chris Latham, 14. Wendell Sailor, 13. Lote Tuqiri, 12. Morgan Turinui, 11. Mat Rogers, 10. Matt Giteau, 9. George Gregan (c), 8. George Smith, 7. Phil Waugh, 6. Rocky Elsom, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Mark Chisholm, 3. Al Baxter, 2. Brendan Cannon, 1. Matt Dunning, – Replacements: 16. Stephen Moore, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Hugh McMeniman, 19. John Roe, 20. Chris Whitaker, 21. Lloyd Johansson, 22. Drew Mitchell

England

Wallabies lost this match, the same scoreline against France a week earlier. The man of the match was Andrew Sheridan. For the Wallabies the situation was dire, with Eddie Jones facing removal as head coach.[4][5]

12 November 2005
England 26–16 Australia
Try: Cohen, Cueto
Con: Barkley, Hodgson
Pen: Barkley, Hodgson 2
Drop: Hodgson		Try: Mitchell
Con: Rogers
Pen: Rogers 3
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

England: 15. Josh Lewsey, 14. Mark Cueto, 13. Jamie Noon, 12. Mike Tindall, 11. Ben Cohen, 10. Charlie Hodgson, 9. Matt Dawson, 8. Martin Corry (c), 7. Lewis Moody yellow card, 6. Pat Sanderson, 5. Danny Grewcock, 4. Steve Borthwick, 3. Phil Vickery, 2. Steve Thompson, 1. Andrew Sheridan, – Replacements: 21. Olly Barkley, 22. Mark van Gisbergen – Unused: 16. Lee Mears, 17. Matt Stevens, 18. Louis Deacon, 19. Chris Jones, 20. Harry Ellis
Australia: 15. Chris Latham, 14. Mark Gerrard, 13. Lote Tuqiri, 12. Morgan Turinui, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Mat Rogers, 9. George Gregan (c) yellow card, 8. George Smith, 7. Phil Waugh, 6. John Roe, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Hugh McMeniman, 3. Al Baxter yellow card, 2. Brendan Cannon, 1. Matt Dunning, – Replacements: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Mark Chisholm, 19. Scott Fava, 20. Chris Whitaker, 21. Matt Giteau, 22. Lloyd Johansson

Ireland

This was the only test match won by the Wallabies.[6] The match was played in Lansdowne Road, with reduced capacity to 42,000 after a fire.[7]

19 November 2005
Ireland 14–30 Australia
Try: Horgan
Pen: Humphreys, O'Gara 2		Try: Latham, Mitchell 2
Con: Rogers 3
Pen: Rogers 3
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 42,000
Referee: Chris White (England)

Ireland: 15. Geordan Murphy, 14. Shane Horgan, 13. Andrew Trimble, 12. Gordon D'Arcy, 11. Tommy Bowe, 10. Ronan O'Gara, 9. Peter Stringer, 8. Denis Leamy, 7. Johnny O'Connor, 6. Simon Easterby (c), 5. Malcolm O'Kelly, 4. Donncha O'Callaghan, 3. John Hayes, 2. Shane Byrne, 1. Marcus Horan, – Replacements: 16. Rory Best, 17. Simon Best, 18. Matt McCullough, 19. Neil Best, 20. Kieran Campbell, 21. David Humphreys, 22. Girvan Dempsey
Australia: 15. Chris Latham, 14. Mark Gerrard, 13. Lote Tuqiri, 12. Morgan Turinui, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Mat Rogers, 9. George Gregan (c), 8. George Smith yellow card, 7. Phil Waugh, 6. John Roe, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Hugh McMeniman, 3. David Fitter, 2. Brendan Cannon, 1. Greg Holmes, – Replacements: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17. Al Baxter, 18. Mark Chisholm, 19. Scott Fava, 20. Matt Henjak, 21. Lloyd Johansson, 22. Wendell Sailor

Wales

After the victory against Ireland, the Wallabies crashed to a low with a close loss to Wales.[8][9]

The day after the game, Eddie Jones was axed due to poor results.[10]

26 November 2005
Wales 24–22 Australia
Try: S. Williams
Penalty try
Con: S. Jones
Pen: S. Jones 4		Try: Latham, Sharpe,
Tuqiri
Con: Rogers 2
Pen: Rogers 2
Millennium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,000
Referee: Tony Spreadbury England

Wales: 15. Gareth Thomas (c), 14. Dafydd James, 13. Matthew Watkins, 12. Sonny Parker, 11. Shane Williams, 10. Stephen Jones, 9. Gareth Cooper, 8. Michael Owen, 7. Martyn Williams, 6. Colin Charvis, 5. Robert Sidoli, 4. Ian Gough, 3. Chris Horsman, 2. T.Rhys Thomas, 1. Duncan Jones, – Replacements: 16. Mefin Davies, 17. Adam R. Jones, 21. Ceri Sweeney – Unused: 18. Ian Evans, 19. Jonathan Thomas, 20. Mike Phillips, 22. Lee Byrne
Australia: 15. Chris Latham, 14. Mark Gerrard, 13. Lote Tuqiri, 12. Morgan Turinui, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Mat Rogers, 9. George Gregan (c), 8. George Smith, 7. Phil Waugh, 6. John Roe, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Hugh McMeniman, 3. David Fitter, 2. Brendan Cannon, 1. Matt Dunning, – Replacements: 17. Al Baxter, 18. Mark Chisholm, 20. Chris Whitaker, 22. Wendell Sailor – Unused: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 19. Scott Fava, 21. Lloyd Johansson

References

  1. ^ As usual, when Australia plays an unofficial match, the team was filed as an "A" team"
  2. ^ "Record-breaking Gregan's Wallabies are told to get physical with French". The Guardian. 5 November 2005.
  3. ^ "Rugby union: France 26 – 16 Australia". The Guardian. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2005.
  4. ^ "Sheridan dismantles Australia, but England are slow to build on ruins". The Guardian. 13 November 2005.
  5. ^ "Rugby Union: England 26 – 16 Australia". The Guardian. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2005.
  6. ^ "Australia return to winning ways". The Guardian. 13 November 2005.
  7. ^ "Rugby union: Ireland 14 – 30 Australia". The Observer. 20 November 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2005.
  8. ^ "Wonderful Wales find heart to keep revival blooming". The Guardian. 27 November 2005.
  9. ^ "Rugby union: Wales 24 – 22 Australia". The Observer. 27 November 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2005.
  10. ^ "Jones axed by Wallabies". The Guardian. 2 December 2005. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 December 2020.