The Wallaroos are hoping England will feel the pressure of being host nation and tournament favourites when they meet their pool rivals in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup. The Australians were plunged into a challenging group, facing world No 1 England, who are on a 20-match winning streak, world No 9 USA, and Samoa.
The Wallaroos have never beaten England’s Red Roses, who have become the dominant side in the game, while the United States defeated Australia 32-25 in Melbourne in May during the Pacific Four series. Only the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
The schedule of matches for the month-long tournament will be announced next Tuesday, but the first match will be at Sunderland next August with the hosts kicking off the tournament, possibly against Australia in what would be a blockbuster opener.
Fresh from winning the WXV2 trophy in Cape Town last weekend, Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp said her team would embrace the challenge.
“If we end up with England in the opening game, that’s huge, isn’t it?,” said Yapp, a former England captain herself who played for them at three World Cups. “Opening a World Cup and an opportunity to play the home nation, the number one team, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on them, and that’s a big opportunity for us.
“Australia aren’t a team that England have played a lot so that comes with challenges for them also. All the pressure, especially if you play them in that opening game, is going to be on them. Huge expectation on a team that hasn’t lost going into this home World Cup.
“And I think whatever pool we ended up in was going to be challenging.”
After beating Canada in the last round to secure the WXV1 title at the weekend, England’s ranking has risen to a record-high points score. Guided by former All Blacks coach John Mitchell, their sole defeat in their last 51 matches was the most painful of all – the narrow 2022 World Cup final loss to New Zealand in Auckland. In that competition, England crushed the Wallaroos 41-5 in the quarters.
Australia has climbed to fifth in the rankings on the back of their terrific win over Scotland in South Africa on Saturday, looking a resurgent force under Yapp’s guidance.
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America’s Women’s Eagles are coached by Sione Fukofuka, who spent three years as assistant coach with Rugby Australia and the Wallaroos. They were the top-ranked outfit among the “band three” teams Australia could have drawn, while the Wallaroos have only met Samoa once before, hammering them 87-0 in 2009 in Apia. In September, the Samoans beat an Australia A side 20-17 with a last-minute penalty.
Holders and six-times champions New Zealand have been pitched in a pool alongside Japan, Spain and Ireland, who beat the Black Ferns 29-27 recently in the shock of the WXV1 tournament.
Women’s Rugby World Cup draw
Pool A: England, Australia, USA, Samoa
Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji
Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain
Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil
