Begins and ends at set piece says Wallaroos boss

Sat, Aug 5, 2017, 6:00 AM
AAP
by AAP
Wallaroos coach Scott Allen says things are starting to click in Ireland as the start of the women's Rugby World Cup looms. Photo: ARU Media/Brendan Hertel

Wallaroos coach Scott Allen says his team will have to compete and do well at set piece time if they are to have any sort of success at the women's Rugby World Cup which kicks off next week.

Speaking after the Wallaroos second training run in Dublin on Saturday Allen said things were "starting to click" with his team as they ready themselves for their first game against Ireland. 

"We're just about over the jet lag and starting to see the benefits of that and just about finished downloading the plays that we want to use in the first couple of matches," Allen told RUGBY.com.au.

"Today was the first time that things really started to click.

"One of the things that we do know about our opponents in our first two matches - Ireland and France - is that they are very strong at the set piece.

"That's no surprise to anybody so we've got to be ready for that and challenge them in that area.

"We tried to stick to the basic structures that we have been working with for much of the past 12 months and adding in a few new things and that has challenged the girls.

"The scrum - we've got work to do, we know that, in that area as we really struggled in the Four Nations tournament in New Zealand but already we've seen some improvement."

Allen added that the core skills work that the wider group had been doing back in Australia had seen the team hit the ground running in Ireland.

"We're having to spend less time worrying about dropped balls and poor passes and we can start to focus on some more detailed parts of our game like our scrum," Allen said.

"It's certainly not a holiday - we're not here to see the sights. That's not what we're here for.

"We've got to focus on us - getting what we do right and then have the ability to handle when things don't go the way we want it to."

The Wallaroos kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign on August 10 against Ireland at UCD Bowl, kicking off at 4am AEST, broadcast LIVE on FOX SPORTS.

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