They’re yet to beat the Black Ferns in 25 years but armed with of a new breed, the Wallaroos will enter their trans-Tasman showdown in Perth with a genuine belief they can claim win no.1.
That was the bold message from Wallaroos forwards coach Matt Tink on Wednesday after the Australian women’s team wrapped up a physically bruising session at the University of WA sports fields.
The Wallaroos will play the Black Ferns in a double header with the Wallabies and All Blacks on Saturday, and like the men, the Aussie women have to turn the tables on a long-running Kiwi dominance.
The Black Ferns, who are only fully professional women's XVs team in the world, have won all 15 of their Test matches since the first encounter in 1994, and last year retained the Laurie O'Reilly Memorial Trophy with two comfortable victories.
But the Wallaroos have a significantly different look this year, after a second Super W season saw many new faces step forward and win Test selection.
A bullish Tink said the Wallaroos would not be viewing the Black Ferns as unbeatable and they would definitely not be entering the clash to “make up the numbers”.
"Mate it’s a Test match, you have to believe that you can win,” Tink said.
"We’re not making up the numbers, it’s not an exhibition game.
"You talk to these girls, they’re playing for their country and the emotion that’s gone into that, through Japan and this morning we had to tell a few girls they wouldn’t be in the 23.
"They were really upset because it means a lot to them.
"These girls have a professional head but an amateur heart. They do all this for love, they’re the Wallabies of the 70s and 80s.
"They go to work, study, live with mum and dad so they can play rugby.
"For them to show up and say we’re just making up the numbers – not good enough.
"They believe they’ve got a chance, we believe we’ve got a chance and why wouldn’t we?”
Tink said the Black Ferns has earned the rank of world’s no.1 side but with an influx of new faces in the Australian squad in recent years, the impact of past results and associated reputations don’t matter as much.
There were eleven debutants for the Wallaroos in the first Test against Japan, and of the 23 who played against Japan in the second Test at North Sydney Oval, only 11 played in the first Test against New Zealand last year.
“We are not viewing them as that (world no.1s), we are viewing them as a traditional rival and they may have had the best of us for a little while but it doesn’t matter on Saturday. There is a genuine belief among our girls,” Tink said.
"As I said before, a couple of our girls have only been playing one or two years, they don’t even know who they are.
"We have a couple more experienced girls who may have the odd battle scar but we have removed those pretty quickly. As far as we are concerned, New Zealand are great athletes and great rugby players but they are just two arms and two legs.”
Tink’s comments are sure to add spice to an already heated rivalry, and add just a tad more pressure on the Wallaroos to front up, too.
The Black Ferns have exerted dominance in the forwards in the last few years, and not only dominated the break down but scored many points via the pick-and-go at the try line.
"As a forward pack we were a bit disappointed with our performances last year, we knew we could do better and it stung a little bit,” Tink said.
"That hurt is good, that hurt has fed some of our training and the aggression on each other. And the beautiful thing is there is a lot of competition for spots now, so I am really pleased with the pack I have got this year.”
The Wallaroos have a bigger pack heading into this year’s campaign, with the likes of Eva Karpani and giant 120kg Queensland prop Christina Sekona now both added to the front row rotation.
"I think the promotion of the women’s game has drawn more athletes out and we had some big girls but they weren’t necessarily as athletic,” Tink said.
“ I am really excited by the size of our pack. It wasn’t a conscious decision to pick big players. We are picking the best rugby players that we can and we are just fortunate that they’re a bit bigger than last year.
"It’s great to have those girls. They’re big but they're athletic as well and they work hard.”
The forward clashes, at set-piece in particular, will be the crucial battleground, said Tink.
"The Kiwis girls are obviously a bit bigger and probably a bit more athletic than the Japanese, it’s pretty obvious to everybody,” Tink said.
"Technically we need to deliver at set-piece. We want top quality ball in attack from both scrum and lineout.
"We really need to stay in the fight there. And defensively we have to disrupt some of their ball. They launch off good ball and their nine is a great plater,. But we if can disrupt some of their set-piece ball at the source, that will give our defence a good chance to get off the line and go whack.”
The Wallaroos name their team on Thursday.
The Wallabies take on New Zealand at Optus Stadium, Perth, on Saturday August 10, kicking off at 5;45pm local, 7;45pm AEST, with the Wallaroos-Black Ferns kicking off at 3pm local, 5pm AEST. The Wallabies are LIVE on Network Ten, FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and RUGBY.com.au RADIO while the Wallaroos will be shown on FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO.
