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
Most capsLiz Patu
Home stadiumBallymore Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland[1]
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current5 (as of 4 September 2023)
Highest3 (January 2004)
Lowest7 (January 2009)
First international
 Australia 0–37 New Zealand 
(Sydney, Australia; 2 September 1994)
Biggest win
 Samoa 0–87 Australia 
(Apia, Samoa; 8 August 2009)
Biggest defeat
 New Zealand 64–0 Australia 
(Auckland, New Zealand; 22 July 1995)
 New Zealand 67–3 Australia 
(Auckland, New Zealand; 22 October 2016)
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.[2]

History

The Wallaroos played their first international in 1994 against New Zealand, also known as the Black Ferns.[2] 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.

In 2022, Australia reached the quarter-finals of the 2021 Rugby World Cup, defeating Scotland and Wales in the group stages. They would go down to England in Auckland

Records
Women's
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 23 October 2023[3]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1 Steady England094.55
2 Steady New Zealand092.14
3 Steady France091.35
4 Steady Canada084.87
5 Steady Australia078.97
6 Steady Wales077.30
7 Increase1 Italy074.24
8 Decrease1 United States073.39
9 Steady Scotland073.29
10 Steady Ireland071.09
11 Steady Japan070.46
12 Steady Spain065.32
13 Steady South Africa063.90
14 Steady Russia061.10
15 Steady Samoa060.04
16 Steady Netherlands060.02
17 Steady Hong Kong058.31
18 Steady Kazakhstan057.54
19 Steady Fiji057.08
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 0100%
 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 66 22 0 4433.33%

Players

Recent squad

Australia announced their final squad on 19 September 2023 for the inaugural WXV 1 tournament in New Zealand.[4]

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Ashley Marsters Hooker (1993-11-02)2 November 1993 (aged 29) 23 Australia Melbourne Rebels
Tania Naden Hooker (1992-02-20)20 February 1992 (aged 31) 6 Australia ACT Brumbies
Adiana Talakai Hooker (1999-02-24)24 February 1999 (aged 24) 12 Australia NSW Waratahs
Bree-Anna Cheatham Prop (1997-03-29)29 March 1997 (aged 26) 5 Australia Queensland Reds
Brianna Hoy Prop (2000-07-07)7 July 2000 (aged 23) 0 Australia NSW Waratahs
Eva Karpani Prop (1996-06-18)18 June 1996 (aged 27) 17 Australia NSW Waratahs
Bridie O'Gorman Prop (1998-12-08)8 December 1998 (aged 24) 15 Australia NSW Waratahs
Emily Robinson Prop (1993-02-06)6 February 1993 (aged 30) 20 Australia NSW Waratahs
Annabelle Codey Lock (1997-02-03)3 February 1997 (aged 26) 4 Australia Queensland Reds
Atasi Lafai Lock (1994-07-24)24 July 1994 (aged 29) 6 Australia NSW Waratahs
Kaitlan Leaney Lock (2000-10-10)10 October 2000 (aged 23) 11 England Harlequins
Michaela Leonard (c) Lock (1995-03-06)6 March 1995 (aged 28) 18 Australia Western Force
Sera Naiqama Lock (1995-07-26)26 July 1995 (aged 28) 10 Australia NSW Waratahs
Emily Chancellor Flanker (1991-08-20)20 August 1991 (aged 32) 19 England Harlequins
Leilani Nathan Back row (2000-07-20)20 July 2000 (aged 23) 0 Australia NSW Waratahs
Tabua Tuinakauvadra Back row (2002-12-27)27 December 2002 (aged 20) 1 Australia ACT Brumbies
Jasmin Huriwai Scrum-half (1993-09-27)27 September 1993 (aged 30) 4 Australia ACT Brumbies
Layne Morgan Scrum-half (1999-04-20)20 April 1999 (aged 24) 15 Australia NSW Waratahs
Carys Dallinger Fly-half (2000-04-30)30 April 2000 (aged 23) 2 Australia Queensland Reds
Arabella McKenzie Fly-half (1999-03-01)1 March 1999 (aged 24) 18 England Harlequins
Faitala Moleka Fly-half (2005-01-29)29 January 2005 (aged 18) 2 Australia ACT Brumbies
Trilleen Pomare Fly-half (1993-04-05)5 April 1993 (aged 30) 21 Australia Western Force
Georgina Friedrichs Centre (1995-04-14)14 April 1995 (aged 28) 15 Australia NSW Waratahs
Cecilia Smith Centre (1994-03-13)13 March 1994 (aged 29) 8 Australia Queensland Reds
Melanie Wilks Centre 2000 (aged 23) 0 Australia Queensland Reds
Desiree Miller Wing (2002-01-13)13 January 2002 (aged 21) 0 Australia NSW Waratahs
Maya Stewart Wing (2000-03-14)14 March 2000 (aged 23) 5 Australia NSW Waratahs
Ivania Wong Wing (1997-09-23)23 September 1997 (aged 26) 11 Australia Queensland Reds
Lori Cramer Fullback (1993-03-08)8 March 1993 (aged 30) 17 England Exeter Chiefs
Siokapesi Palu Utility back (1996-10-15)15 October 1996 (aged 26) 3 Australia ACT Brumbies

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.[5][6] 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.[6] 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.[6]

Previous squads

Captains
CaptainYears Ref
Piper Duck 2023– [7]
Shannon Parry2022–23 [8]
Grace Hamilton2019 [9]
Liz Patu2018 [10]
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% [11]
Bob Hitchcock 1995–1998 10 3 0 7 30.0% [12][13]
No appointment (Sep 1998–c. Dec 2000)
Don Parry c. 2000–2002 6 2 0 4 33.33% [14]
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% [15]
Dwayne Nestor 2018–2021 6 2 0 4 33.33% [16]
Jay Tregonning 2021–present 14 6 0 8 42.85% [17]

As of 30 October 2022.

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Ballymore Update - April 2022". Reds Media Unit. 12 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
    2. "Our History - Buildcorp Wallaroos". wallaroos.rugby. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
    3. "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
    4. "Wallaroos announce squad for O'Reilly Cup & WXV1 Tournament". Wallaroos Rugby. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
    5. 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.
    6. "Cheryl McAfee". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
    7. "Piper Duck announced as 2023 Wallaroos captain". wallaroos.rugby. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Nix, Alwyn (26 August 1994). "Wallaroos will have a few surprises". The Canberra Times.
    12. "Aust slips in Otago". The Canberra Times. 16 July 1995.
    13. "Teams: Australia". Women's Rugby World Cup. 1998. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
    14. "Women's Rugby World Cup: Pool A". International Rugby Board. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 August 2002. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
    15. "Team Profile: Australia". Irish Rugby. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
    16. 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.
    17. Williamson, Nathan (14 September 2021). "Jay Tregonning appointed Wallaroos coach". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021.
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