It’s scary to think Desiree Miller could improve on last week’s hat-trick performance - but the pint-sized winger sets a very high bar for herself.
Miller’s three-try haul spearheaded Australia’s 73-0 win over Samoa in their World Cup opener and drew her to equal second on the Wallaroos' all-time try scorers list (13), just three behind teammate Maya Stewart (16).
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While pleased to run in another Test treble, Miller, 23, is her own toughest critic and told reporters she’d struggled with her on-field confidence through the Wallaroos’ 2025 season.
“[Beating Samoa] was obviously a wonderful start to the campaign and something that I think we personally needed and I myself definitely needed,” Miller told rugby.com.au and RugbyPass.
“I felt like the last July series I kind of lost a little bit and had a knock to my confidence.
“Training the last month and getting some more continuity I felt a lot better, and then producing that result on the weekend was very helpful, but a lot of those tries came from everyone inside me.
“I literally just put the ball over the line, so I can't really claim a lot of them because a lot of the girls on the inside did the work, and I just happened to have the ball to finish it off.
“There were just a few performances in the July series, particularly the New Zealand game I wasn't happy with individually, but like I said, I've gone back and reflected and worked on those.
“I try to aim for perfection so I fall to excellence, and sometimes I don't even get that, so it’s just moving on to the next job, reflecting, acknowledging, and then trying not to make the same mistake twice.”
A high bar indeed – especially when one remembers Miller’s rugby journey began just five years ago.
The former gymnast and footballer first picked up a rugby ball in 2021 before rapidly climbing the ranks with the NSW Waratahs and making her Test debut against England in 2023.
“Every day it's waking up and kind of realisation - like, oh, my God, OK, I'm still here - it's not a dream. I actually had to go back through a few old rugby photos for something and I realised how fast my journey has gone," Miller reflected.
“I started playing after the first lockdown in 2021 - just with friends being social, just trying something new - and then, as the photos went on, quickly and quickly, you know, it was into the Tahs wider squad, then I was playing for the Waratahs, and then with the Wallaroos squad for debuting at the end of that year.”
“So it's been a really fast exponential growth but something that I'm really happy it did happen.
"Now that I'm actually here and I'm getting to play is really, really special and having my family being so supportive, flying all the way over here to watch, particularly for this game, something super special and something I think I'll remember forever.
There's little time for sentimentality, though, with Miller braced for Australia's "do-or-die" clash with USA in York on Sunday morning (4pm AEST).
Miller retains her starting wing berth with Jo Yapp making just four changes to last week's matchday squad from Manchester.
Victory over the USA would all but guarantee a Wallaroos quarter final berth - however a loss would leave Australia in the unenviable position of having to defeat England next week to exit Pool A.
"That's something we've acknowledged, not that it's going to place any more unwanted pressure on us, but something that we need to recognise and then go into the game with confidence that we've done the work," Miller said.
"USA, you know, they feed off your energy and they love a little underdog story, so us coming off a win, them coming off a loss, we've both got really big motivators - them to rectify and us to keep carrying it on.
"So yeah, it's going to be tough but I think that's what it's about at a World Cup, it's a different game."
