Australia women's national rugby union team

The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010.

For the men's team, see Australia national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see Australia women's national rugby sevens team.

Australia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Wallaroos
EmblemWallaroo
UnionRugby Australia
Head coachJay Tregonning
Eddie Jones[lower-alpha 1]
CaptainShannon Parry
Home stadiumBallymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland[3]
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current6 (as of 9 January 2023)
Highest3 (January 2004)
Lowest7 (January 2009)
First international
 Australia 0–37 New Zealand 
(Sydney, Australia 2 September 1994)
Biggest win
 Australia 87–0 Samoa 
(Samoa, 8 August 2009)
Biggest defeat
 New Zealand 64–0 Australia 
(Auckland, New Zealand 22 July 1995)
World Cup
Appearances6 (First in 1998)
Best result3rd place, 2010
Websitewallaroos.rugby
Australia at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Australian women have been playing rugby since the late 1930s, in regional areas of New South Wales. In 1992 the first National Women's Tournament was held in Newcastle, NSW. The following year the Australian Women's Rugby Union was established, and it was declared that the national women's team would be called the Wallaroos. It was chosen because it was the name of one of Australia's oldest clubs, the Wallaroo Football Club, which was formed in 1870.[4]

History

The Wallaroos played their first international in 1994 against New Zealand, also known as the Black Ferns.[4] The match was played at North Sydney Oval, and New Zealand won the game 37 to 0. The team placed fifth at their first World Cup appearance in 1998 in the Netherlands. They placed fifth at the 2002 event in Barcelona, Spain also.

In 2014, The Wallaroos played two Test matches in New Zealand against their Tasman rivals, the Black Ferns, and North American outfit, Canada. Although losing both of these matches, the Wallaroos took this experience into the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. The Australian team was second in the pool stage behind host team France and was narrowly defeated by the United States in the first playoff, but beat Wales in their last match to finish the tournament in seventh place.

Records
Women's World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 8 May 2023[5]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1 Steady England094.55
2 Steady New Zealand093.19
3 Steady France089.62
4 Steady Canada084.67
5 Steady Australia078.00
6 Steady Wales077.00
7 Steady United States076.80
8 Steady Italy074.63
9 Steady Scotland071.19
10 Steady Ireland071.09
11 Steady Japan067.94
12 Steady Spain066.35
13 Steady South Africa066.15
14 Steady Russia061.10
15 Increase1 Netherlands060.02
16 Decrease1 Hong Kong059.22
17 Steady Fiji058.33
18 Steady Samoa058.01
19 Steady Kazakhstan057.09
20 Steady Sweden056.01
*Change from the previous week

Rugby World Cup
Main article: Australia women at the Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
Year Round Pos GP W D L PF PA
Wales 1991Did Not Enter
Scotland 1994
Netherlands 1998Plate final5th 53028470
Spain 2002Fifth play-off5th 43018041
Canada 2006Plate semi-final7th 520311489
England 2010Third play-offThird 530211538
France 2014Plate semi-final7th 530210449
Ireland 2017Fifth play-off6th 520394149
New Zealand 2021Quarter-final5th* 4 2 0 2 49 101
England 2025 TBD
Australia 2029 Automatically qualified as host
United States 2033 TBD
Total 7/93rd†3318015640537
  Champion   Runner-up   Third place   Fourth
* Tied placing † Best placing Home venue

Overall
See also: List of Australia women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only)

Summary of matches, updated to 10 May 2022:

Opposition First P W D L %
 Canada 2014 3 0 0 30%
 England 1998 5 0 0 50%
 Fiji 2022 1 1 0 1100%
 France 1998 5 1 0 420%
 Ireland 1998 4 3 0 175%
 Japan 2017 4 3 0 175%
 New Zealand 1994 19 0 0 190%
 Samoa 2009 1 1 0 0100%
 Scotland 1998 2 2 0 0100%
 South Africa 2006 3 3 0 0100%
 Spain 1998 1 1 0 0100%
 United States 1997 5 1 0 420%
 Wales 2002 4 4 0 0100%
Summary 1994 5719 0 3833%

Players

Recent squad

Wallaroos coach, Jay Tregonning, named a 32-player squad for their May 20 Test against Fijiana in Sydney.[6]

Player Age Club Caps
Adiana Talakai 24 NSW Waratahs 9
Alana Elisaia 29 Queensland Reds 1
Annabelle Codey 26 Queensland Reds 2
Ashlea Bishop 25 ACT Brumbies uncapped
Ashley Marsters 29 Melbourne Rebels 19
Bree-Anna Cheatham 26 Queensland Reds 1
Bridie O'Gorman 24 NSW Waratahs 11
Caitlyn Halse 16 NSW Waratahs uncapped
Carys Dallinger 23 Queensland Reds uncapped
Cecilia Smith 29 Queensland Reds 5
Deni Ross 22 Queensland Reds uncapped
Desiree Miller 21 NSW Waratahs uncapped
Emily Robinson 30 NSW Waratahs 18
Eva Karpani 26 NSW Waratahs 13
Faitala Moleka 18 ACT Brumbies uncapped
Georgina Friedrichs 28 NSW Waratahs 11
Grace Hamilton 31 NSW Waratahs 25
Ivania Wong 25 Queensland Reds 7
Jasmin Huriwai 29 ACT Brumbies uncapped
Laiema Bosenavulagi 17 Melbourne Rebels uncapped
Layne Morgan 24 NSW Waratahs 11
Leilani Nathan 22 NSW Waratahs uncapped
Madison Schuck 31 Queensland Reds 5
Maya Stewart 23 NSW Waratahs 1
Michaela Leonard 28 Western Force 14
Sarah Lewis 25 Queensland Reds uncapped
Sera Naiqama 27 NSW Waratahs 6
Shannon Parry 33 Queensland Reds 23
Siokapesi Palu 28 ACT Brumbies 1
Tabua Tuinakauvadra 20 ACT Brumbies uncapped
Tania Naden 31 ACT Brumbies 2
Trilleen Pomare 30 Western Force 21

Notable players
Main article: List of Australian women's national rugby union players

Cheryl McAfee is the first Wallaroo to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2021.[7][8] She led the Australian women's sevens team in the inaugural Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens competition that was held in Dubai in March 2009.[8] Later that year, she was invited by World Rugby to become a member of the bid team that successfully campaigned for the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympics. She also captained the Wallaroos from 2006 to 2010, including at the 2010 Rugby World Cup where they achieved their best result of third place.[8]

Previous squads

Captains
CaptainYears Ref
Shannon Parry2022 [9]
Grace Hamilton2019 [10]
Liz Patu2018 [11]
Sharni Williams2017
Shannon Parry2017
Ash Hewson2016
Dalena Dennison2014
Tui Ormsby2014
Chris Ross2010
Cheryl Soon2006–2010
Selena Worsley2002
Louise Ferris2001
Nicole Wickert1998–2000
Helen Taylor1994-1995

Coaches
Name Tenure Tests Won Drawn Lost Win% Ref
Col Spence 1994 1 0 0 1 0% [12]
Bob Hitchcock 1995–1998 10 3 0 7 30.0% [13][14]
No appointment (Sep 1998–c. Dec 2000)
Don Parry c. 2000–2002 6 2 0 4 33.33% [15]
No appointment (Jul 2002–Jun 2005)
Steve Hamson 2005–2008 9 2 0 7 22.22%
John Manenti 2009–2010 6 4 0 2 66.66%
No appointment (Oct 2010–Aug 2013)
Paul Verrell 2013–2017 17 5 0 12 29.41% [16]
Dwayne Nestor 2018–2021 6 2 0 4 33.33% [17]
Jay Tregonning 2021–present 11 3 0 8 27.27% [18]

As of 30 October 2022.

See also

Notes
  1. In January 2023, Jones was appointed head coach of the men's rugby union team. It was also reported that he would oversee the women's team as well, however, little information was given.[1][2]

References
  1. Halloran, Jessica (17 January 2023). "It was like he dropped out of heaven: Rugby boss on Jones signing". The Australian. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. Williamson, Nathan (16 January 2023). "'Strap yourself in for the ride': All the reaction to Eddie Jones' appointment as Wallabies coach". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 17 January 2023. Meanwhile, Tim Horan labelled it a risk but one that might have to be made on the precipice of an important time in Australian Rugby, with Jones taking overseeing both the Wallabies and Wallaroos.
  3. "Ballymore Update - April 2022". Reds Media Unit. 12 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  4. "Our History - Buildcorp Wallaroos". wallaroos.rugby. Retrieved 11 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  6. Williamson, Nathan (9 May 2023). "16-year-old Halse headlines Wallaroos squad for Fijiana Test". wallaroos.rugby. Retrieved 14 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Williamson, Nathan (27 October 2021). "Wallaroos and Sevens legend Cheryl McAfee inducted into World Rugby Hall of Fame". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  8. "Cheryl McAfee". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  9. Payten, Iain (5 May 2022). "Eleven new faces in Wallaroos team as frantic World Cup race begins". The Age. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022.
  10. Robinson, Georgina (21 June 2019). "Amazing Grace: New Wallaroos captain's rapid rise to the top". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019.
  11. Tiernan, Eamonn (13 August 2018). "Kiwi-born Liz Patu named new Wallaroos skipper". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  12. Nix, Alwyn (26 August 1994). "Wallaroos will have a few surprises". The Canberra Times.
  13. "Aust slips in Otago". The Canberra Times. 16 July 1995.
  14. "Teams: Australia". Women's Rugby World Cup. 1998. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  15. "Women's Rugby World Cup: Pool A". International Rugby Board. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 August 2002. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  16. "Team Profile: Australia". Irish Rugby. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  17. Decent, Tom (13 February 2018). "New Wallaroos coach Dwayne Nestor says hosting 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup would be a 'fairytale'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  18. Williamson, Nathan (14 September 2021). "Jay Tregonning appointed Wallaroos coach". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australia women's national rugby union team.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.