Sheffield-born Max Jorgensen lines up for Australia against England
Max Jorgensen was born in Sheffield, and on Sunday he will play against England at Twickenham as one of Australia's first-choice back three. The 22-year-old has spent most of his life in Australia, and he has never had any doubt about which team he wanted to represent.
Kick-off is at 15:10 GMT on Sunday 8 November. The back three are the two wingers and the full-back, the players who finish attacking moves out wide and gather kicks that come back into play.
His father, Peter Jorgensen, is a former Wallaby, the name for Australia's men's team. Peter spent six years in Britain, playing for Northampton, Rotherham and Edinburgh. When he retired, the family moved back to Australia, and Max was a toddler.
Max holds a British passport. According to BBC Sport, he has said he never wanted to switch to England and always dreamed of playing for the Wallabies. At 11, he travelled with his father to Britain to watch the 2015 Rugby World Cup, cheering on Australia. As a teenager, he also turned down approaches from the NRL, the top competition in rugby league, the 13-a-side code.
His breakthrough at Test level came at Twickenham in November 2024. Aged 20 and with three caps (appearances for his country), he came off the bench and scored an 83rd-minute try that gave Australia a 42-37 win over England, according to Reuters. Australia's fifth try of the match was his.
He has kept up that form. He scored tries in the first and third Tests against the British and Irish Lions, the touring side picked from players across Britain and Ireland, and he set up Tom Wright's try in the second. He has also won the Cadbury Try of the Year award. His number, Wallaby No. 984, shows he is the 984th player to be capped by Australia, according to Rugby Australia.
The match is part of a busy month. Australia have four Tests in November, and the games will decide the first winners of the new Nations Championship, a tournament between the leading men's teams. England beat Australia 25-10 in their meeting last year.
Australia's coach, Les Kiss, said these Tests should show where his side stands a year before Australia host the World Cup. Kiss also expects flanker Tom Hooper, a loose forward who works hard in contests for the ball, to be ready for the England game, Reuters reported.
For a player whose path could have gone a different way, Sunday is a chance to show what he can do on rugby's biggest stage. He will be wearing gold, not white, against the country where he was born.
