Coach Steve Hamson recently named a 22-woman squad for the first Women’s rugby international to be played in Australia since the Wallaroos played England in Newcastle in 2001.
With the nucleus of the side made up of veterans, such as captain Cheryl Soon, Selena Tranter (nee Worsley), Tricia Brown and Tui Ormsby, Hamson has brought in six new faces - lock Dalena Dennison, prop Dannielle Meskell, centres Sharni Williams and Melissa Rowe, hooker Margaret Watson and winger Nicole Beck – for the Kiwi challenge.
The Black Ferns are returning to Australia for the first time since 1998 and will be defending the Laurie O’Reilly Memorial Trophy, which they claimed during their 2-0 series win over the Wallaroos in New Zealand last year.
Despite falling in both games last year, the Wallaroos had clearly made significant strides in levelling the playing field and after the Australian Women’s Sevens team defeated New Zealand twice in the recent Oceania Sevens, confidence is not an issue.
“The nine girls that have come back to us from the Sevens program, are not only in top physical condition but they also have a strong belief they can match it with New Zealand,” said Hamson.
“This has filtered throughout the squad and with a young average age of only 23, we are certainly heading in the right direction.”
“We’re now at a stage where we need to build this squad’s match experience before the World Cup qualifiers next year, and ultimately the World Cup itself,” said Hamson.
Paper to Paper Wallaroos Match Schedule
14 October 2008 v Black Ferns, Viking Park in Canberra
18 October 2008 v Black Ferns, Viking Park in Canberra
Click here to view the complete Paper to Paper Wallaroos squad.
