The Wallaroos Tri Nations Squad reunited at the Sydney Academy of Sport yesterday as they finalise their preparation for the Tri-Nations tournament to be hosted by New Zealand.
The Wallaroos will play the New Zealand Black Ferns and in a first for the Wallaroos, will take on Canada as they continue to look ahead to the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup to be held in France in August.
At the conclusion of the Tri-Nations tournament the final squad for the Wallaroos to go to the World Cup will be confirmed. The Tri Nations tournament will provide one last opportunity for players to guarantee their selection for this squad.
With 15 uncapped players in the squad, the Wallaroos playing group includes a mix of youth and experience, including Tui Ormsby who is potentially in line to represent Australia at her fourth World Cup.
Head Coach Paul Verrell was excited to continue the squad’s preparation.
“The team has come together this morning and we will be working very hard throughout this preparation camp to get our combinations right and develop as a squad.
“The Wallaroos have never had such an extensive preparation for a World Cup in terms of matches, satellite training and training camps.
“We expect a very tough contest from New Zealand and Canada and the entire squad will be working hard to take as much from this tournament as possible.”
The Wallaroos play New Zealand on Sunday 1 June in Rotorua and Canada on Friday 6 June in Tauranga.
The Wallaroos came third in the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2010 having had no previous trial matches before the tournament.
The World Cup will be held in Paris in August with the first match for Australia on August 2. Australia have France, Wales and South Africa in their pool.
Wallaroos Tri Nations Squad:
Number
First Name
Surname
Representing
1
Hayley
Barclay
*QLD
2
Tricia
Brown
QLD
3
Louise
Burrows
ACT
4
Chloe
Butler
*SYD
5
Cheyenne
Campbell
QLD
6
Rebecca
Clough
WA
7
Dalena
Dennison
QLD
8
Mollie
Gray
*ASRU
9
Natasha
Haines
*WA
10
Alisha
Hewett
*ASRU
11
Ashleigh
Hewson
SYD
12
Ashley
Marsters
*VIC
13
Nita
Maynard
*SYD
14
Danielle
Meskell
SYD
15
Michelle
Milward
*ACT
16
Tui
Ormsby
SYD
17
Liz
Patu
*QLD
18
Brooke
Saunders
*ASRU
19
Oneata
Schwalger
*VIC
20
Hanna
Sio
*NSW
21
Rebecca
Smyth
NSWC
22
Alexandra
Sulusi
*SYD
23
Kenina
Terita
*SYD
24
Caroline
Vakalahi
ASRU
25
Madeline
Putz
*WA
26
Margaret
Watson
NSWC
*Uncapped player