The Wallaroos will pore over game tape of France’s back-to-back victories over the Black Ferns as they turn their attention away from Japan and onto to the old enemy.
After downing the Japanese in a two-Test series, the Australian women will take on New Zealand in another pair of Tests, in Perth on August 10 and in Auckland on August 17.
The Wallaroos and Black Ferns’ showdown for the Laurie O’Reilly Trophy will be played as double-headers with the men as they compete for the Bledisloe Cup.
Australia have never beaten the Black Ferns in 17 attempts, and last year went down 33-11 and 45-17 in the corresponding series.
The Wallaroos head into the trans-Tasman showdowns with more confidence than ever before, though, after a second year of Super W and with the Japan series serving as their first ever “tune-up” Tests.
But another source of optimism for the Wallaroos can be found in the fact the world no.1 Black Ferns have been beaten twice by France since, in consecutive Tests.
The French beat New Zealand 14-0 in November last year to end a 17-month winning streak, and then downed the Kiwis again 25-16 in their next clash at the Super Series tournament earlier this month in the USA.
The Kiwis went on to win the Super Series over England but France’s ability to beat the Black Ferns is something world coaches are now studying hard.
"We have plenty of footage from the Super series and the Black Ferns are the no.1 team in the world, and rightly so, but the French showed that they can be beaten,” Wallaroos coach Dwayne Nestor said after the second Test win over Japan.
“So we will have a good look at that French game and see what we can do there. But we’ll put a plan in place.
"The good thing is with my assistant coaches Matt Tink and Peter Breen, and with Stephen Larkham involved, we have some good rugby brains there. We will have a good plan in place.”
In their most recent win, France scored their tries with opportunistic attack in the wide channels and defended their line stoutly. For the second game in a row, the French didn’t let the Kiwis cross their line, with the Black Ferns’ only scoring via a penalty try.
Defence will clearly play a big part if the Wallaroos hope to notch their first ever win, and Nestor was very pleased with how his team performed in that area against the challenging Japanese team.
"In terms of comparisons with the Black Ferns, what we will take out of this especially from a defensive point of view is our ability to get spacing and defend the width of the field,” Nestor said.
"There are a couple of things we need to tidy up on with that but I think the improvement the girls made from the trial match against the Japanese to tonight was huge, and they recognise that as well, so they’re actually seeing improvements in the making.”
New Zealand have sought to attack Australia with big forwards carrying near the ruck, and while that’s different to Japan, Nestor said the confidence gained from the Japanese series will be important.
"I think with defence it is about attitude and confidence, and obviously there are systems and technique but a lot of the time you have to rely on attitude and confidence and I think the girls have generated that and developed that,” he said.
"Over the two weeks it has improved in terms of our system, so they will take confidence in knowing that they’ve actually developed that, in terms of the Black Ferns."
The Wallaroos will return to club rugby and state-based training until re-gathering in camp in Perth on August 3.
Nestor has some selection headaches ahead of him, with several bench players sticking their hand high for starting spots in the Japanese series.
"I am happy to have selection headaches, it is a nice headache to have,” Nestor said.
"It is about us being able to play to our girls’ strengths and not just pigeon hole them because they;re in a position. But actually giving them roles which suit their strengths, so we will select on what we want to do against the Black Ferns, based on our players strengths.”
Larkham will stay with the Wallaroos before taking up his new role with Munster in Ireland.
