First up, the biggest news in women’s rugby: Canada defeated England 24-21 in front of 18,000 Canadian fans. (OK, there may have been a couple of Red Roses fans there as well.) In their last game, the Canadians drew 19-all with England; now a win. The Red Roses had been unbeaten in 41 matches. Well done, Canada.
Wallaroos put on a show at home
Second up, congratulations to the Wallaroos for putting on a terrific show at home with a 56-12 win against Scotland. That is two good wins over Scotland. It has been a pretty tough year with more losses than wins. One more Test to go to finish the season. A win on Friday in Canberra would provide a well-deserved spring in their step as they head for the off-season.
It was a big win, but it did take time for the Wallaroos to get into the game. The first 20 minutes were scrappy from both sides. In that time, Scotland probably looked the better and did score the first try. A very nice one at that.
In the end, the Wallaroos were able to get a roll on through their forwards. As the Wallabies found out later in the day, if you cannot win or at least compete in the collisions and breakdown, you have little chance of winning the game.
For the Wallaroos, by half-time, it was 35-5. There were tries in the 15′, 20′, 29′, 34′ and 38′ minute marks, with Samantha Wood converting them all. All done and dusted.
Whitaker’s first try and Friedrichs’ quiet brilliance
We got to see Maya Stewart back on the field and get over the try line. Then, finally, Amelia Whitaker scored her first try for the Wallaroos from a gorgeous draw and pass from Georgina Friedrichs. She then scored a second try, a length-of-the-field effort, in the second half.
From the outside, Friedrichs is at times not appreciated enough, as she does not make the highlight reel with big hits or multiple tries. She just provides so much safety for the Wallaroos with her work on both sides of the ball. She has the passing skills, can make a break, makes smart decisions, chases every kick and makes her tackles (and at times others’ too).
Forwards top and tail the game
A bit like talking about the strikers in football, I have fallen into a similar trap, highlighting the flashy backs. Admittedly they did score six of the eight tries, but the forwards topped and tailed the game. Britt Merlo scored the first try, and Eva Karpani scored one of her signature block-busting tries to finish the game in the 79th minute.
In between those tries, the forwards did the much-needed grunt work. Of note, since Duncan Chubb (and Mike Ruthven) have come on board, the set piece has been very solid. The Wallaroos have lost just three of 31 scrums (90 per cent), and those three were against the mighty Red Roses. The lineouts have been pretty good too, losing 10 of 69 lineouts (86 per cent), noting four of the losses were in Edinburgh, where it was blowing a gale.
Pohiva and Tapsell bring the physicality
This season, Faliki Pohiva has taken an extra step up and is making a difference. As I have mentioned previously, currently she is arguably the most important player in the Wallaroos set-up. Also, it cannot be ignored that Pia Tapsell has brought much-needed additional physicality, but, weirdly, she does it in an almost unassuming way. Pohiva makes big block-busting runs and some huge hits, while Tapsell goes about her business but is not so highlight-worthy. At a guess, her defence is maybe not so eye-catching, but she ensures the ball carrier does not get over the advantage line.
Bench gets a good run
One of the pluses of a big half-time lead was that coach Tim Walsh was able to roll out the replacements early to give them a good run. The whole bench was on by the 59th minute. It was good to see Piper Simons get over 25 minutes.
Learning at Test level
You do have to chuckle. We talk about the Wallabies, and Declan Meredith having a good game; he is probably the third or fourth flyhalf option and is learning at Test level. At least he has played a bit of Super Rugby. The Wallaroos’ 10, Waiaria Ellis, now has five starts at flyhalf and just two for the Waratahs. That is it. Talk about learning at Test level.
Next stop: Canberra
For the Wallaroos, they now head to, as James Glenday on ABC’s News Breakfast says, “the beating heart of Australia, Canberra” for their final Test of the season. They will be looking for three wins in a row over Scotland and a good way to close out the season.
Edits made (no rewording): “Ok” became “OK” and “19 all” became “19-all”. “The first 20 minutes was” became “were”. I joined the “With Samantha Wood…” fragment to the sentence before it, made “line-outs” and “lineouts” consistent, and changed “others too” to “others’ too”. I hyphenated half-time, set-up, block-busting, eye-catching and highlight-worthy, and added missing commas and full stops throughout. Three tiny grammar fixes were also needed: “played a bit of Super Rugby”, “Wallaroos**’** 10”, and “is not so highlight-worthy”. Check you’re happy with those three.
I have liked the looks of Pohiva. She seems to have gotten fitter and she and Kopani are important for the Wallaroos go forward . They are building nicely and of Halse can stay fit and build, that’ll help along with Woods getting her fitness up to match her good quality kicking game.
Thanks Hugh. Just finished watching the highlights of the weekends games. USA looks strong, the Canada v Red Roses game was a beauty, the crowd really got behind the home team. And what can you say about the Black Ferns. Keep up the good work, Wallaroos
It was another good round of rugby. England v Canada was a cracker. As you say USA are progressing well. Saw the Black Ferns score & haven’t bothered watching even the highlights. As for the Wallaroos, they are getting better. You have to say they have improved during the season.