End of an era: Jo Yapp on Wallaroos’ World Cup exit and coaching future

It’s the end of an era for Jo Yapp and the Wallaroos. With Australia falling to Canada 46-5 in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals last weekend, Yapp has coached that national side for the final time with no concrete plans for what comes next.

Yapp was unveiled as the first female Head Coach in Wallaroos history towards the end of 2023, and the former England scrum-half found success in that position. The Wallaroos claimed their first major trophy ever during Yapp’s time in charge, winning WXV 2 in South Africa last October.

Australia defeated Fiji, the USA and Wales this year before flying to England for the World Cup. In a tough pool, the Wallaroos got the better of Samoa 73-0, drew with the USA 31-all in York, and tournament favourites England needed 31 minutes to take the lead in round three.

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These results were clear steps forward for the Wallaroos, who will have a new Head Coach from 2026, although there’s no word yet on who that will be. Yapp announced in May that she would be returning home to England after the World Cup, which has sparked some rumours.

John Mitchell is the current coach of the Red Roses, but some believe Yapp could be next in line for that role. About 90 minutes after Australia’s quarter-final exit, Yapp addressed the England rumours while opening up about her short-term plans in a co-exclusive interview.

“I’m contracted [with Rugby Australia] until October 31^st so my job now will be to review, support and review the tournament and the build-up to that tournament,” Yapp told RugbyPass and Rugby.com.au.

“It’s to support and review the players in terms of making sure they’re clear on their focuses coming off the back of this. Once that’s done, I genuinely probably just need a bit of time to reflect. I haven’t had that time at all, obviously I’ve been wholeheartedly in this and I haven’t been home to the farm for some time.

“Then just see what happens from there because right now there isn’t anything past the 31^st of October. I probably just haven’t allowed myself to even think past this role. I genuinely haven’t looked outside of what I’ve been doing here,” she added.

“I haven’t considered anything at all so obviously it’s always lovely to have our name considered for international jobs, of course it is, but it’s just not something I’ve given any real thought to if I’m honest with you.”

You could see the emotion on Yapp’s face after she walked out of Australia’s changing room for this two-on-one interview. While the Wallaroos had shown grit and character during the World Cup, their hard work and sacrifice had led to that moment.

Adiana Talakai gave an insight into “post-tournament blues” during a press conference earlier in the week. This is a group that’s spent more than 100 days together this year away from their own homes and beds, and now their international season is over.

Emily Chancellor had all the Wallaroos staff and players sign her jersey after the Canada match, confirming to reporters that she won’t be playing at another World Cup. Piper Duck and Kaitlan Leaney also fronted the press, disappointed about the result but upbeat about the future.

12 of the 23 players selected to represent Australia in that quarter-final were aged 25 or younger, which is a real positive four years out from a home World Cup. Desiree Miller scored the team’s sole try against the Canadians, but a tough tournament draw seemed to take its toll on the Aussies.

“When we first saw the draw come out for the World Cup, we knew we were up against it and getting to the quarters itself was, if we’re super realistic, was going to be an achievement to get out of that pool and we did that,” Yapp said.

“What it meant was we played number one and number two back-to-back which is always going to take it out of this group of players, which I think it did.

“The experience that we’ve come across in the last two weeks, it’s just been a challenge for what is a young group. We did problem solve a bit today and we came back out at it… this group of players are learning through Test matches and we really need them to be learning through competitive fixtures at Super W.”