Sheffield-born Jorgensen out to inflict more pain on England

Published5 hours ago

Max Jorgensen is casting his mind back a couple of years.

Having just turned 20, he arrived at Twickenham in November 2024 with just three caps to his name and a spot on Australia's bench.

He left it as the day's defining figure.

In the 83rd minute, with the clock long in the red and England leading by two points, Australia shipped the ball wide, a sliver of 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.

"It can be a daunting place, with 85,000 people singing and chanting.

"It's sort of a different type of atmosphere than you get over in Australia so to have that confidence of knowing we've done it before is definitely good."

England v Australia

Nations Championship

Sunday 8 November, 15:10 GMT

Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Live commentary on BBC Sports Extra, BBC Sport website and app

Despite his youth, Jorgensen was prepared better than most for Allianz Stadium's matchday cauldron.

Somewhere in a drawer back in Sydney, there is a British passport with his face staring out of the page.

Jorgensen was born in Sheffield.

His father Peter was playing in the Premiership at the time, in the midst of a six-year stint in Britain during which he played for Northampton, Rotherham and Edinburgh.

The family returned to Australia when Peter retired and Max was still a toddler.

However Peter, a former Wallaby himself, and an 11-year-old Max flew to the UK in 2015 to watch that year's Rugby World Cup.

Max was decked out in green and gold then, cheering the Wallabies to victory over England, and he was never going to switch sides as a player.

"That was never something I wanted to do," he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2025., external

"I just always had the dream of playing for the Wallabies. I am stoked every time I get to do it."

Since that memorable 2024 win at Twickenham, Jorgensen, who resisted overtures from rugby league's NRL as a teenager, has become a first-choice back-three pick for his team.

His happy knack of playing big in big games has continued as well.

Jorgensen crossed in the first and third Tests against the British and Irish Lions last year, and his break helped set up Tom Wright's try in the second.

He scored the try that proved the match-winner in September's extraordinary 42-38 victory over South Africa, having also crossed in the Wallabies' first win over Springboks at Ellis Park in 62 years.

He knows that Australia need to be more consistent if he and they are to feature in the biggest matches in this autumn's Nations Championship finals and, beyond, at next year's home Rugby World Cup.

As 2024 is mentioned, Jorgensen is just as quick to bring up last year's meeting with England in which the hosts ran out to a comfortable 25-10 victory.

Jorgensen himself endured a miserable time last time out, butchering a chance and throwing an interception in New Zealand's 43-21 success in Sydney in October.

However, he believes Australia, under the leadership of new coach Les Kiss, are trending in the right direction.

"We've come a long way, we aren't the perfect team, but we are definitely getting better," he says.

Formlines and trylines alike will be in sharper focus come Sunday evening.

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