Rugby Union: Where are Australia after the Autumn Nations Series?

With two wins and two defeats, it’s fair to say the Autumn Nations Series was a mixed bag of results for Joe Schmidt’s Australia.

What can’t be denied is there was certainly progress on this northern hemisphere tour and positives to take out of all four performances in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin.

From a team that struggled during the 2024 Rugby Championship on the way to claiming the wooden spoon, there can now be some renewed optimism about where this Wallabies side are heading ahead of the 2027 World Cup, a tournament they are 8.00 to win.

Attacking flair shone in London and Cardiff

Handed a daunting opener against England at the Allianz Arena, Australia managed to win one of the great Test matches 42-37.

While defence has continued to be an issue on this tour, the Wallabies were able to do much more with ball in hand than they showed in the Rugby Championship.

Hanging in their game at the Allianz Stadium until the final moments, Australia took advantage of England’s inability of late to get over the line in tight games.

A memorable win in London and off to Cardiff, where the Wallabies were able to add to Welsh woes with a 52-20 victory at the Principality.

What was particularly impressive about this performance was how Schmidt’s side managed being down a man for 20 minutes with the sending-off of Samu Kerevi at the start of the second half.

Kicking the ball to the corners and making the most of their strong rolling maul that Wales had no answer to, hooker Matt Feassler bagged himself a hat-trick of tries on a day when the Wallabies really had their swagger back.

Fatigue possibly to blame in Edinburgh and Dublin

On a roll and with a grand slam on a European door coming into view, it was up to Murrayfield next to face Gregor Townsend’s Scotland.

However, the winning run was to come to an end with Scotland’s strong second-half performance guiding the hosts to a 27-13 victory.

The Wallabies looked leggy in that game up in Edinburgh and ended up losing to a Scotland side that didn’t really need to hit top gear.

A daunting trip to Dublin was to follow and Australia might well be wondering what might have been after a 22-19 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

The Wallabies gave themselves an eight-point advantage but Ireland did what they do best in Dublin and found a way to win.

Overall there are certainly positives to take from the tour, with some of the Wallabies’ attacking play a foundation to build on.

Conceding 106 points over the four Tests, defence is still an area for this Australia side to work on if they are to beat the British & Irish Lions over a three-Test series next year.

The Wallabies are 2.50 to win the series, with the Lions at 1.53 to come out on top.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.