Autumn Nations Series Finale Marks 150 Years Of Irish Rugby

Ireland Men and Australia Men have played each other on 37 occasions since their first meeting in 1927. There have been some historic matches between the teams and none more so than Saturday’s clash at Aviva Stadium to celebrate the IRFU 150 Anniversary.

This is the second 150 test match of the season with the Ireland Women’s team kicking of the season of celebrations by beating the Wallaroos in Belfast in September.

The Wallabies historically have the upper hand winning 22 of these matches, while Ireland have won on 14 occasions with one draw.

Recently the tide has turned with Ireland claiming the lion’s share of the victories, winning four out of the last five matches between these two sides. Three of these wins came with now Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt at the helm of the Irish side.

The last three fixtures between Ireland and Australia in Dublin have all been decided by a three-point margin, with Australia’s last away win against Ireland in 2013.

Another Irish victory would equal their longest-ever winning run against Australia, which saw them win four games in a row between 1958 and 1968.

Andy Farrell’s Ireland come into this clash off the back of two wins from three so far in the Autumn Nations Series. Ireland’s impressive 19-game winning streak at the Aviva Stadium was brought to an end by the All Blacks earlier this month. However, they have since bounced back with hard-fought victories against Argentina and a dominant performance over Fiji in recent weeks.

Their clash with the Pumas was a tense affair which Ireland narrowly edged 22-19 after Argentina knocked on in the dying moments deep in opposition territory. In contrast, Ireland hit their stride against Fiji on Saturday. Farrell, rotating his squad with seven changes, saw his side run in eight tries to secure a commanding 52-17 victory.

Ireland head into this game, with their defence on top form, having conceded both the fewest defensive 22 entries per match (6.6) and the fewest points per entry (1.8) of any Tier 1 team in 2024.

Australia began their November tour on a high note, raising hopes of replicating the historic Grand Slam success of 1984. Early wins against England and Wales brought them halfway to that goal, but suffered a disappointing 27-13 defeat to Scotland. They now arrive in Dublin eager to bounce back and claim the Lansdowne Cup.

There are records to be broken for both Ireland and Australia, Cian Healy could make his 134th international appearance in this fixture, surpassing Brian O’Driscoll as Ireland’s most-capped player in men’s Test history; the only prop with more caps for a single nation is James Slipper, who will make his 143rd Wallabies appearance in this game and become the outright fourth most capped player of all time, surpassing Sergio Parisse and behind Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Whitelock and Richie McCaw.