Wallaroos scrumhalf Samantha Wood can see Director of Women's High Performance Tim Walsh's influence on the squad as they look to take down France.
Wood and the squad have settled under the interim guidance of the Olympic-winning coach for the rest of the 2026 season, which continues against the French in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday morning (AEST).
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The Wallaroos started their European tour with a confidence-boosting first half against the Red Roses, leading at the break before ultimately falling in Manchester.
As the Australians turned their attention to the Six Nations runners-up, Wood embraced a clear message from Walsh and the rest of the coaching staff.
"He's got that real intent to win, an all-in approach...he's got one of those sayings: be useful, don't be useless. Look for work, do your job, and he's driving simple behaviours," she said and smiled.
"These behaviours stack up and he's played a big part in the mental prep going into the games, which I've learned heaps from."
The Wallaroos are drawing inspiration from their 2023 victory, out to stack back-to-back wins over France for the first time ever.
"A lot of girls still come from that team so they know what's possible. I think having players who have beaten teams before obviously really helps with confidence and knowing the team that you're playing," Wood believes.
"Our focus is on ourselves, on what we need to be better at, and trying to win that physicality battle. We need to front up against these guys and that's the only way we're going to be in this game."
The Wallaroos have made just two changes to the starting side from last week, with Allana Sikimeti and Piper Duck added to the pack.
Tabua Tuinakauvadra will join the bench alongside potential debutant Piper Flynn, as the Wallaroos look to end their losing run.
"'Walshy' has talked a lot about our capacity to stack wins, using little moments in the game to stack wins and generate momentum," assistant coach Mike Ruthven said.
"I think we did that really well in the first half against England. I think the work on or the thing we need to be better around this week is just being a little bit more consistent around how we control those little wins or little moments in the second half this week and ensure that we're able to just build some continuity through that second half."
