The Wales national rugby union team toured Australia in July 2024 as part of the 2024 mid-year rugby union tests. The first test against the Australia national team was played on 6 July at the new Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, New South Wales, with the second test following a week later at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria. A pre-tour match against South Africa on 22 June was announced in February 2024; the match will be played at Twickenham Stadium in London due to a clash with concerts by Taylor Swift and the Foo Fighters at the Millennium Stadium either side of the match.
After the two tests, Wales also played a tour match against the Queensland Reds at Lang Park in Brisbane.
It is Wales' first tour since touring South Africa in 2022 and their first tour of Australia since 2012. Their match against Queensland will be their first since 1991.
Fixtures DateVenueHomeScoreAwaySource22 June 2024Twickenham Stadium, London41–13Report6 July 2024Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney25–16Report13 July 2024Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne36–28Report19 July 2024Lang Park, BrisbaneQueensland Reds35–36Report
Matches South Africa vs Wales The two teams named their line-ups for this game on 18 June. South Africa were missing their usual captain Siya Kolisi as well as the rest of their Europe-based players, so Pieter-Steph du Toit led the team. They were also without the Bulls players who had reached the final of the 2023–24 United Rugby Championship play-offs, resulting in debut starts for fly-half Jordan Hendrikse and wing Edwill van der Merwe, while uncapped lock Ben-Jason Dixon and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu were named on the bench. Prop Vincent Koch was named in the starting line-up to earn his 50th cap. For Wales, flanker Jac Morgan, who had co-captained the team with Dewi Lake at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, was ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury, so Lake was named as captain, while James Botham filled in for Morgan in the back row after only being called up to the squad the day before. Lock James Ratti was also called up due to the unavailability of Cory Hill and named on the bench. New Scarlets signing Henry Thomas was named to start the match, but pulled out on 20 June with a foot injury; Keiron Assiratti was promoted from the bench to replace him among the starters, while Scarlets teammate Harri O'Connor came onto the bench.
South Africa opened the scoring early in the match as centre Jesse Kriel crossed for a try in the opening five minutes, converted by Hendrikse. Sam Costelow responded with a penalty for Wales, but they were soon reduced to 13 men as Rio Dyer and Aaron Wainwright were both sin-binned in the first quarter-hour, the latter offence resulting in a penalty try. Costelow missed the opportunity to close the gap further with another penalty shortly after, while Ellis Bevan fumbled a chance at a debut try following an interception by Liam Williams. After Dyer and Wainwright's return to the field, Wales took the numerical advantage as the game reached the half-hour mark, as Aphelele Fassi was shown a yellow card for a high boot on Taine Plumtree. They capitalised immediately as Dewi Lake claimed a loose ball and made his way over the line for a try, which Costelow converted before adding a penalty to reduce the deficit to a single point at half-time.
The first score of the second half came even quicker than in the first, as Makazole Mapimpi capitalised on a potential missed forward pass by the referee to cross for another converted try. Hendrikse then kicked South Africa's first penalty of the game to make it 24–13 with less than 10 minutes of the half gone. After a quiet next 15 minutes, South Africa put the seal on the win in the final quarter-hour, as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a penalty from inside his own half before converting tries by Bongi Mbonambi and Edwill van der Merwe, who was named player of the match.
FB 15Aphelele Fassi RW 14Edwill van der MerweOC 13Jesse KrielIC 12André Esterhuizen LW 11Makazole MapimpiFH 10Jordan Hendrikse SH 9 Faf de Klerk N8 8 Evan Roos BF 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c)OF 6 Kwagga SmithRL 5 Franco MostertLL 4 Eben Etzebeth TP 3 Vincent Koch HK 2 Malcolm Marx LP 1 Ox Nché Replacements:HK 16Bongi Mbonambi PR 17Ntuthuko Mchunu PR 18Frans Malherbe LK 19Salmaan Moerat FL 20Ben-Jason Dixon SH 21Grant Williams FH 22Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu CE 23Damian de Allende Coach: Rassie Erasmus FB 15Cameron WinnettRW 14Liam WilliamsOC 13Owen WatkinIC 12Mason Grady LW 11Rio Dyer FH 10Sam Costelow SH 9 Ellis Bevan N8 8 Aaron Wainwright OF 7 James BothamBF 6 Taine Plumtree RL 5 Ben CarterLL 4 Matthew Screech TP 3 Keiron Assiratti HK 2 Dewi Lake (c) LP 1 Gareth Thomas Replacements:HK 16Evan Lloyd PR 17Kemsley Mathias PR 18Harri O'Connor LK 19James Ratti N8 20Mackenzie Martin SH 21Gareth Davies CE 22Eddie James FB 23Jacob Beetham Coach: Warren Gatland Player of the Match: Edwill van der Merwe (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England) Adam Leal (England) Television match official: Mark Patton (Ireland) Foul play review officer: Andrew Jackson (England)
Australia vs Wales (1st test) Wales named their squad for the game on 3 July, making six changes from the team that faced South Africa two weeks earlier. In the forwards, prop Archie Griffin was given a first start for Wales in the city where he was born, while locks Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins, and flanker Tommy Reffell also came in, all four having been unavailable against South Africa, replacing Keiron Assiratti, Matthew Screech, Ben Carter and James Botham, of whom only Botham made the bench to face Australia; in the backs, Josh Hathaway was named to make his debut, replacing Cameron Winnett in the back three with Liam Williams moving to full-back, while Ben Thomas replaced Sam Costelow at fly-half. Aaron Wainwright was named at number 8 to earn his 50th cap for Wales. Meanwhile, Australia named two debutants in their starting line-up – centre Josh Flook and lock Jeremy Williams – and a further five on the bench, Angus Blyth, Charlie Cale, Isaac Kailea, Tom Lynagh, Dylan Pietsch, while flanker Liam Wright captained the side for the first time.
Wales opened the scoring in the third minute of the match with a penalty from Ben Thomas, but Noah Lolesio levelled the scores for Australia a few minutes later, before putting them in front with another place-kick as the game hit the quarter-hour mark. Taniela Tupou scored the game's opening try five minutes later, while Gareth Thomas was sin-binned for an offence in the build-up; Lolesio converted the try to put Australia 13–3 up. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Wales continued to apply pressure, and shortly after Rio Dyer was denied a try for a knock-on, referee Pierre Brousset awarded them a penalty try after Australia collapsed a maul, resulting in a yellow card for flanker Fraser McReight.
That meant Wales went into half-time trailing by just three points, and just over five minutes past the break, Ben Thomas drew them level with his second penalty of the game; however, just six minutes later, Filipo Daugunu took advantage of a turnover from a Wales line-out to cross for his third international try, his first since Australia's 29–28 loss to Wales in Cardiff in 2021. A few minutes later, Botham came on for Wales and thought he had scored with his first touch, driving over from a line-out, only for the try to be ruled out for obstruction after the maul splintered. Ben Thomas was able to reduce the gap to two points as the match entered its final 15 minutes, but a solo try from Tom Wright ultimately sealed the win for Australia, as Tom Lynagh scored his first points in international rugby with the conversion. The defeat was Wales's eighth in a row, their longest losing streak since 2013, and saw them drop to 11th place in the World Rugby Rankings, their lowest ever position.
FB 15Tom WrightRW 14Andrew KellawayOC 13Josh FlookIC 12Hunter PaisamiLW 11Filipo Daugunu FH 10Noah Lolesio SH 9 Jake Gordon N8 8 Rob ValetiniOF 7 Fraser McReight BF 6 Liam Wright (c) RL 5 Lukhan Salakaia-LotoLL 4 Jeremy Williams TP 3 Taniela Tupou HK 2 Matt Faessler LP 1 James Slipper Replacements:HK 16Billy Pollard PR 17Isaac Kailea PR 18Allan Alaalatoa LK 19Angus Blyth FL 20Charlie Cale SH 21Tate McDermott FH 22Tom Lynagh WG 23Dylan Pietsch Coach: Joe Schmidt FB 15Liam Williams RW 14Josh HathawayOC 13Owen WatkinIC 12Mason GradyLW 11Rio DyerFH 10Ben Thomas SH 9 Ellis Bevan N8 8 Aaron WainwrightOF 7 Tommy ReffellBF 6 Taine Plumtree RL 5 Dafydd Jenkins LL 4 Christ TshiunzaTP 3 Archie Griffin HK 2 Dewi Lake (c) LP 1 Gareth Thomas Replacements:HK 16Evan Lloyd PR 17Kemsley Mathias PR 18Harri O'Connor LK 19Cory Hill FL 20James Botham SH 21Kieran Hardy FH 22Sam Costelow CE 23Nick Tompkins Coach: Warren Gatland Player of the Match: Jake Gordon (Australia)
Assistant referees: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand) James Doleman (New Zealand) Television match official: Marius Jonker (South Africa) Foul play review officer: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Australia vs Wales (2nd test) Wales named their squad for the second test on 11 July; they made two changes from the first test, bringing full-back Cameron Winnett and flanker James Botham into the starting line-up in place of the injured Josh Hathaway and Aaron Wainwright; they also made two positional changes, as Liam Williams moved from full-back to the right wing, while Taine Plumtree moved to number 8 from the blindside flank. Australia made just one change to their team, also enforced by injury, as Charlie Cale came in for captain Liam Wright; Rob Valetini moved to the blindside flank to accommodate Cale at number 8, and James Slipper took over from Wright as captain. Uncapped hooker Josh Nasser was named on the bench.
With this victory for Australia, they retained the James Bevan Trophy.
FB 15Tom WrightRW 14Andrew KellawayOC 13Josh FlookIC 12Hunter PaisamiLW 11Filipo DaugunuFH 10Noah Lolesio SH 9 Jake Gordon N8 8 Charlie Cale OF 7 Fraser McReightBF 6 Rob ValetiniRL 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto LL 4 Jeremy Williams TP 3 Taniela Tupou HK 2 Matt Faessler LP 1 James Slipper (c) Replacements:HK 16Josh Nasser PR 17Isaac Aedo Kailea PR 18Allan Alaalatoa LK 19Angus Blyth FL 20Langi Gleeson SH 21Nic White FH 22Ben Donaldson WG 23Dylan PietschCoach: Joe Schmidt FB 15Cameron WinnettRW 14Liam Williams OC 13Owen WatkinIC 12Mason GradyLW 11Rio DyerFH 10Ben Thomas SH 9 Ellis Bevan N8 8 Taine PlumtreeOF 7 Tommy ReffellBF 6 James BothamRL 5 Dafydd Jenkins LL 4 Christ TshiunzaTP 3 Archie GriffinHK 2 Dewi Lake (c) LP 1 Gareth ThomasReplacements:HK 16Evan Lloyd PR 17Kemsley MathiasPR 18Harri O'ConnorLK 19Cory Hill N8 20Mackenzie MartinSH 21Kieran Hardy FH 22Sam Costelow CE 23Nick Tompkins Coach: Warren Gatland Player of the Match: Rob Valetini (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England) Pierre Brousset (France) Television match official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand) Foul play review officer: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Queensland Reds vs Wales
FB 15 Jock Campbell (c)RW 14 Floyd Aubrey OC 13 Tim RyanIC 12 Dre PakehoLW 11 Mac GrealyFH 10 James O'ConnorSH 9 Louis Werchon N8 8 Joe Brial OF 7 John BryantBF 6 Seru UruRL 5 Ryan SmithLL 4 Connor Vest TP 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen HK 2 Richie Asiata LP 1 Sef Fa'agase Replacements:HK 16 George Blake PR 17 Matt Gibbon PR 18 Massimo De Lutiis LK 19 Josh Canham FL 20 Connor Anderson SH 21 Will Cartwright FH 22 Mason GordonWG 23 Lachie Anderson Coach: Les Kiss FB 15Cameron WinnettRW 14Rio DyerOC 13Nick TompkinsIC 12Eddie James LW 11Regan Grace FH 10Sam CostelowSH 9 Gareth Davies (c) N8 8 Mackenzie Martin OF 7 Taine PlumtreeBF 6 Christ Tshiunza RL 5 Dafydd JenkinsLL 4 Matthew ScreechTP 3 Archie Griffin HK 2 Evan Lloyd LP 1 Kemsley Mathias Replacements:HK 16Efan Daniel PR 17Corey Domachowski PR 18Harri O'Connor HK 19Dewi Lake FL 20Tommy Reffell SH 21Kieran Hardy CE 22Ben Thomas CE 23Mason Grady Coach: Warren Gatland