Desiree Miller ready for ‘State of Origin’ Reds clash, Force eye finals

The final weekend of Super Rugby Women’s regular season will see the four Aussie sides jostling for positions, with the results of last week having a big impact on the makeup of finals.

The Fijian Drua will enjoy the bye and guaranteed qualification, their 50-17 win over the Reds securing a guaranteed finished of their place.

However, the Force’s 28-21 victory over the Waratahs – the first time an Aussie side has defeated the women in sky blue, has the potential to shake up who will travel where when semis begin.

The Waratahs are set to host a desperate Queensland Reds this weekend, the visitors needing victory at Leichhardt Oval and a Force win in Canberra to qualify for finals.

For Wallaroo winger Desiree Miller though, the combination of the Reds-Tahs rivalry and looking to make amends for last week is motivation enough, as well as tussle for who finishes top of the pile.

“It was disappointing to come away with a loss,” Miller said in an interview with RugbyPass.

“It’s taken nine years for another team to do it. And I think it just fuelled the fire a little bit more. We’ve had a lot of adversity at the moment with a lot of injuries, but I don’t think that means that the newer girls haven’t stepped up.

“There was a lot of individual errors and a lot of things that wasn’t a failure to our system, just a failure to our execution. In the past we’ve been able to grind through that.

“But Australian rugby is getting better and the teams around us are getting better, so we need to be able to step up and stop that gap from closing.

“I think we’re performing and we’re connecting well. I think we found a silver lining in it.

“There’s a lot of learnings that I think maybe we might not have picked up on as strongly if we came by with a close win. [It’s] a big learning curve, but I think for the better.

“We’ve really honed in on those little details that I think we’ve missed. I think it’s going to show in the next few games that we play.”

Miller is expecting an aggressive response from Queensland, who will welcome back Lori Cramer into the starting side, with Sevens star Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea also included and Charlie Brigstocke making her debut on the wing.

However, the Tahs are welcoming back plenty of experience of their own, with Emily Chancellor, fresh off captaining the Barbarians against Wales, set to be one of four changes for the Tahs alongside Bridie O’Gorman, Ruby Anderson and Martha Harvey.

With Miller set to wear the vice captain armband and maintain her kicking duties, the Wallaroo winger is embracing the new challenges being asked of her this year.

“It’s kind of our own state of origin, if you would,” Miller said of the rivalry.

It’s a long-lasting rivalry and healthy competition between the two of us. It’s always a physical match and always a really good battle.

“It’s something that I look forward to each year.

“It’s always an honour and privilege to be recognised for a leadership role. It’s something I still feel very new to, but I’ve got great support and great people to look up to. Em Chance and Kaitlin Leaney, they’re natural-born leaders.

“It has been challenging, but for the better.”

Force staying grounded as they eye shot at table first

Across the nine years of Super Rugby Women’s, the Western Force have never topped the table – but that could change should they win against the Brumbies this weekend.

The Force will need to be at their best to overtake the Drua, whose big win over the Reds sees them with a favourable points differential. The Brumbies have suffered several losses, but will have plenty of NextGen experience to call upon.

However, Grace Freeman expects her side to deliver the goods again, their shock victory over the Waratahs putting the rest of the competition on notice.

“Over the past few games that we’ve been growing as a group,” Freeman said to RugbyPass.

“Especially with that win against the Tahs, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a huge team effort. Defence has been a big focus this year and I think that game really showed what we can do with that piece of the game.

“We knew everything that we had to do. It was just the ‘no talent required’ stuff that we like to talk about, the one percent and the effort.”

With the Brumbies coming similarly close to beating the Tahs earlier in the season in Canberra, and Freeman expects a tough encounter when they play at Viking Park, the hosts looking to secure a semi-final position with a win.

“We’re growing every game,” Freeman said. “Even with that win over the Tahs, it was amazing and making history is awesome with that group who have been working hard, that wasn’t to our full potential.

“I think we’ve got so much more to give.

“This weekend is building [on] what we’re doing well, but also trying to unleash what we haven’t done yet and really bring that into this game, pulling triggers, getting the ball out wide a bit more.

“We’ve got awesome set piece, we also have some awesome things in phase play. We’re going to try and emphasise that this weekend.”