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The 1984 tour of Britain and Ireland by the Wallabies is one of the more significant events in the long history of Australian rugby.
The 1984 Wallabies did something their previous teams to Britain and Ireland couldn’t do and that was to win the ‘Grand Slam’, victories over England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
After suffering the humiliation of a 25-24 loss to the All Blacks in the third Test of the 1984 Bledisloe Cup series, coach Alan Jones made some significant changes to his team.
In came Michael Lynagh, Nick Farr-Jones and Steve Cutler. Andrew Slack was given the captaincy for the tour, but most importantly, Mark Ella was given control to call the plays in the backline.
Australia was given no chance at the start of the tour by the British media, yet surprised everyone by beating England 19-3.
Ireland was next on the Wallabies agenda, and the Australians defeated the Irish at Lansdowne Road 16-9.
The most crucial Test of the whole tour was against Wales.
Wales, by this stage, were probably the strongest of the Home Unions teams, but at Cardiff Arms Park, the Wallabies showed the Welsh that the tide had turned. Australia defeated Wales 28-9 which was significant for the ‘pushover try’ scored by forward Tom Lawton.
The Welsh were shattered by the result.
The Wallabies completed the Grand Slam in fine style by defeating Scotland 37-12, and just for good measure, went on to defeat the Barbarians 37-30.
Mark Ella completed his own personal Grand Slam by scoring a try in each of the four Tests played on that tour. Michael Lynagh scored 42 points, which was the most scored by an Australian in a Test series.
The 1984 Wallabies were of the great Australian sports teams of all time.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.