Max Jorgensen is casting his mind back to November 2024, when he arrived at Twickenham with just three caps and a spot on Australia's bench. He left as the defining figure of the day. In the 83rd minute, with England leading by two points, Australia shipped the ball wide, space opened up, and Jorgensen streaked away for a game-snatching score.
"It was a pretty special night for the whole team," says Jorgensen, now 22. "To win at Twickenham – the home of rugby – it's a hard place to win and to do it in that fashion was pretty cool." He added that the atmosphere, with 85,000 people singing and chanting, can be daunting, but knowing the team has done it before gives confidence.
Jorgensen was born in Sheffield, where his father Peter was playing in the Premiership. The family returned to Australia when Peter retired, and an 11-year-old Max later watched the Wallabies beat England at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in Britain, wearing green and gold. He was never going to switch sides. "That was never something I wanted to do," he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2025. "I just always had the dream of playing for the Wallabies."
Since that 2024 win, Jorgensen, who turned down rugby league's NRL as a teenager, has become a first-choice back-three pick. He crossed in the first and third Tests against the British and Irish Lions, and scored the match-winner in September's 42-38 victory over South Africa. He knows Australia must be more consistent to feature in the biggest matches, including next year's home Rugby World Cup. Under new coach Les Kiss, he believes the team is trending in the right direction: "We've come a long way, we aren't the perfect team, but we are definitely getting better."
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing