Ella made his debut tour with the Wallabies on the 1979 Australia rugby union tour of Argentina. He would later make his Test debut for Australia during the 1980 Bledisloe Cup Test series, in which the Wallabies defeated the All Blacks two games to one - the first three-Test series victory Australia against New Zealand since 1949, the first series victory over the All Blacks on Australian soil since 1934, and the first occasion the Wallabies successfully retained the Bledisloe Cup. In 1982, Ella was made captain of the Australia national rugby union team and he would go on to captain the Wallabies on 10 occasions from 1982-1983. Ella captained a depleted Australian team on the 1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand, which the Wallabies would lose one game to two against the All Blacks. However, Australia scored 316 points in 14 matches on tour, including 47 tries. Ella is perhaps most famous for his performances on the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, during which Australia achieved rugby union's Grand Slam by defeating the Home Nations in four consecutive Tests, with Ella scoring one try in each Test.