WXV Global Series: The Wallaroos Get the Win, a Solid Win at That

What a weekend—both the Wallabies and Wallaroos jagged important wins. You just have to enjoy these wins.

To be honest, I was going to start on this while watching the Wallabies, but that did not quite work out as planned. What a wild game the Wallabies match was. The last 10 minutes provided flashbacks of the card chaos of the Wallaroos v France game from the previous weekend.

Wallaroos 30, Scotland 10

Back to the Wallaroos. On the weekend, in the wind and some Edinburgh rain, they faced Scotland. As you would expect with Scotland ranked eighth and the Wallaroos ranked ninth, it was pretty tight early on; at half-time, it was 10–5 to the Scots. But the Wallaroos’ second half was a big turnaround. They scored 25 unanswered points to take it out 30–10.

It was a good win for the women in green and gold, who have had a tough time of it of late. Their last win was back in March against Fiji. Since then, there have been losses to the Kiwis twice, Canada, USA, England, and France. Toss in a new coaching group, their second interim coaching group this year. It has been a challenging 2026.

Now, I am not one for deserved wins, and effort does not in itself deserve a win, but I think the Wallaroos were due. So the win over Scotland was a positive way to finish their European tour.

It was a classic game of two halves. The less said about the first half, the better. It was pretty average and scrappy. As the Scottish captain highlighted post-match, they did not do enough in the first half with the wind.

Being biased, the only real highlight was Desiree Miller’s try: a long right-to-left pass from Waiaria Ellis to Georgina Friedrichs, who offloaded to Miller.

While the Scots were not happy with their first half, neither was coach Tim Walsh. Post-match, his comments included, “It wasn’t a pleasant message” on how he felt about the Wallaroos’ first half.

It appears captain Siokapesi Palu Sekona had a few words at half-time as well.

Whatever was said worked. But also recognise that the Wallaroos then had the wind behind their backs, and Scotland star number eight Evie Gallagher was yellow-carded in the 49th minute.

With the wind behind them, they had the possession and territory. Wood’s kicking out of hand was exceptionally good. Importantly, this week, with the numerical advantage with Gallagher off, they scored points. In that 10-minute period, they scored three tries by Samantha Wood, Brianna Hoy (off a lovely pass by Caitlyn Halse), and Faitala Moleka.

While leading 24 to 10, Wood extended the lead with two penalty goals in the 65th and 76th minutes. Smart decisions. Again, Wood’s kicking. This time goal kicking; it was a huge plus. Her kicking and goal-kicking value is similar to what the Wallabies also get from their half Ryan Lonergan.

What Else Can We Say?

While it was a good win, it must be said this young backline has not yet fully found its feet. The good news: there is a lot of upside. To be fair, this backline has only played together for three matches. Moleka’s move to 12 has been very good. Her play was recognised with Player of the Match. She seems to have bulked up a bit and has not shied away from the physical carries required of a 12. She also brings an additional kicking option. Again, mindful she is just 21 years old.

Tia Hinds brings real flexibility to the bench, especially when you have a six-two split. She can play in the halves or fullback. For example, against France, she came on for Wood at halfback. Against Scotland, she came on for Halse, played 10, and Ellis moved to 15.

When you look at the age and talent of the backline, it is pretty exciting what they could do over the next couple of years.

Faliki Pohiva has been a standout this season. She put in a longer shift than usual, coming off after 51 minutes. Apart from her physicality with ball in hand, she is also making some seriously big hits. Arguably, she has become one of the most important, if not the most important, player in this team. The other standout has been Pia Tapsell and her physicality. Those two players have made a real difference. If there is one thing Australian rugby sides often lack, it is physicality. These two players bring that in spades.

With a young and inexperienced backline, the Wallaroos need a competitive forward pack.

It is also noticeable that coach Walsh is confident enough in his bench to take Palu Sekona and Tapsell off with still 20 or 30 minutes to go. No doubt it is important to also get minutes into the bench players.

Lastly, you can see in coach Walsh’s post-match comments he is bringing a bit of a hard edge. It is not just taking the positives out of a game or highlighting lessons to take out. He said, “…So I wasn’t happy with our performance. Glad we got the win and came home with it, but the advantage was the wind and a few key players who I thought had tremendous games.” A pretty assertive comment after a 30-10 win.

The Wallaroos head home now and prepare for the next game on 17 October against Scotland. Reading The Scotsman, it highlighted the Scots are fired up for a bit of revenge after the weekend’s loss.

The match is part of Rugby Australia’s quadruple header: Wallaroos, both Aussie Sevens teams, and the Wallabies. Cliché, a festival of footy at Accor Stadium, Sydney.