It’s the match that is arguably the most crucial in the Wallaroos’ 2025 season - and Adiana Talakai knows it.
The Wallaroos are set to face the USA this weekend in York, with a win securing a quarterfinals berth for Jo Yapp’s side.
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A loss, however, could see the women in gold head home early, with the Eagles needing to defeat both the Wallaroos and Samoa to keep their campaign alive.
A loss would also mean the Wallaroos will need to produce a win against current tournament favourites England, whom they have never beaten in their history, to qualify for the quarter finals.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, Talakai knows the significance of the match is not lost on the side.
“A hundred percent,” the Wallaroo hooker said when asked if intensity has risen in camp, fresh off a ‘Test match Tuesday’ training session.
“Everybody feels the intensity of that training. They just want to put their best foot forward for the country, for their teammates, and obviously just to get that one step forward into potentially getting that World Cup.
“When you think of it like that, you just don't know who's going to win, so it kind of raises the stakes a little bit. You can't just go into a Test match and just think that, oh yeah, that's an easy flow. Especially against the USA, so it's definitely a hard one to hit.”
The Wallaroos drew first blood against their Pacific rivals earlier in the year in a spicy 27-19 win in Canberra, but Talakai knows all bets are off with the World Cup on.
For the 19-capped Wallaroo, there will be some personal elements to this fixture - but overall, the side feels calm despite the significance of the match.
“I think in every test match that we come across, I think there's only a few positions that really go head to head with each other,” she explained.
“I take that really personally, especially one-on-one battles in the scrums. Especially after today's training, we really take it personally to take care of our own, where everybody is a piece in a puzzle, and we're trying to do our bit to put our best foot forward.
“There's probably some unsettled business there.
“[We’re] calm, collected, cool, we're really focused, really zoned in to what our job needs to be, both on and off the field. The job doesn't stop after Test Match Tuesday.
“It's everything that you do off the field as well that makes us better on the field. So the vibe's pretty purposeful, if that explains it.
“I don't want to say there's no nerves, but there is a sense of calmness around the camp.
“Nobody's going around waking up with zingy hair up, and they're like, oh my god, we've got this USA team.
“We're not nervous, we're ready for a fight, and so we're here.”
