Series of rugby union matches
In June 2016, England played a three-test series against Australia as part of the 2016 mid-year rugby union tests.[1] They played the Wallabies across the three weeks of the June International window, 11 June–25 June, and contested the Cook Cup, which England had previously won eight times to Australia's twelve. The series was part of the fourth year of the global rugby calendar established by the International Rugby Board, which runs through to 2019.[2]
England won all three matches, the first time they had won a test series in Australia. After defeating the hosts in the second match, England retained the Cook Cup and achieved second place in the World Rugby Rankings,[3] while Australia dropped to fourth. Australia had not been "whitewashed" in a home series since losing all three tests to South Africa in 1971.[4]
After the third test, two days after the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union, The Courier-Mail joked that a second continent now hated England as a result of the tour.[5]