Men’s Health Cover Star: Max Jorgensen means business

Max Jorgensen was 20 years old, with the weight of a nation on his shoulders, when he scored the try that restarted Australian rugby’s heartbeat. Now, as the Wallabies rise from the ashes and a World Cup on home soil looms, he stands at the centre of a new golden era.

FOR A LONG MOMENT, we all felt the kind of heart-in-mouth tension that, as Australian rugby fans, we had almost forgotten how to feel. With the Wallabies trailing England by two points deep into extra time at Twickenham in late 2024, the men in green and gold needed a miracle. Then came the break. Len Ikitau created some space with a monster fend, then sent a flick pass to Max Jorgensen on the left wing. There was nothing but green grass in front of him. The then-20-year-old hit his stride and dove over the try line to give the Wallabies their first win over England, in England, since 2015. A moment of hope for a nation that had been starved of it.

“It’s a bit of a blur now,” Jorgensen, who is a Defender ambassador, recalls on the set of his cover shoot with Men’s Health. “But it was just pure joy. The main thing I remember is all the boys jumping on top of me afterwards.”

And despite the gravity of the situation, Jorgensen didn’t feel any pressure in the moment. “At the end of the day, it’s a rugby field. It’s a big patch of green grass with a couple of white lines on it and some posts,” he says. “I imagine I’m in my backyard playing some footy with my brother and my cousins. Obviously, the other guys are a bit bigger than my brother, but that’s what I like to bring it back to. You can’t let the outside influences get to you, you just have to focus on what’s in front of you and what you have to do.”