Rugby Union
The first recorded game of Rugby Union in Australia was on 25 July 1839. The Sydney University club, the first recognised club, was formed in 1864. By 1874 there were enough clubs for the formation of the Sydney Metropolitan competition.

English teams toured Australia in 1888 and 1899. Throughout the 20th century Australian Rugby Union teams were reliably competitive. In Australia, rugby union became a professional sport in 1996. The Australia national rugby union team are the Wallabies. Major international competitions played by the Wallabies include the Bledisloe Cup, between Australia and New Zealand, which since 1996 has been part of the Tri Nations Series.

The Rugby Union World Cup was first held in 1987 and is now held every four years. Australia is the only nation to win the Rugby World Cup twice, in 1991 and 1999. The Mandela Challenge Plate began in 2000 which is a minor tournament involving Australia and South Africa.

The premier provincial rugby competition is the Super 14 (previously the Super 12) consisting of 4 teams (Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and Western Force) from Australia, along with 5 teams from New Zealand and 4 teams from South Africa.

The Australian Rugby Shield was first played in 2000, to try and promote rugby union in states outside New South Wales and Queensland. To celebrate 10 years of professional Rugby Union, Australian Rugby celebrated the occasion with the announcement of the Wallaby Team of the Decade.

Tennis

One of the four tennis grand slams is played in Australia, the Australian Open held in Melbourne. The tournament has been held for 100 years since 1905 when the Australasian Tennis Championship was first held at a Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Like the other three Grand Slam events, it was contested by top-ranked amateur players. It was known as the Australian championships until the advent of open tennis in 1968. There are men’s and women’s singles competitions, men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles, as well as junior and master’s competitions.

Some of Australia’s best known tennis players include Pat Cash, Roy Emerson, Lleyton Hewitt, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Pat Rafter, Ken Rosewall and The Woodies. The Woodies consisting of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde was the most successful men’s tennis doubles team in history, and won eleven Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal.