Australia

Sydney has hosted the Wallabies since the beginning: the team's first Test came at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 24 June 1899, a 13–3 win over a touring British side that would later become the British & Irish Lions. There is no fixed home ground now — the side moves between Stadium Australia, Suncorp Stadium, Optus Stadium, Adelaide Oval and, for the biggest occasions, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Both losing finals came against opponents who would haunt them either side of that peak — New Zealand in 1987, England again in 2003. The gold medal from the 1908 London Olympics sits further back, almost a different sport in how it is remembered.

The rivalry that matters most is not with a World Cup opponent but with New Zealand.

That is no longer taken for granted. The 2023 World Cup ended in the pool stage for the first time, sealed by a loss to Fiji — Australia's first defeat to a Pacific island side since 1954. Against that, the Tri Nations and Rugby Championship titles of 2000, 2001, 2011 and 2015 read as a reminder of how recently the team was still winning things.