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‘Limit does not exist’: Wallaroos carry belief into next World Cup cycle
By Finn Morton at Ashton Gate, Bristol
Emily Chancellor won’t play at another Women’s Rugby World Cup, but the Wallaroos flanker is incredibly excited about the direction of this Australian team. All Australian players signed Chancellor’s jersey after losing to Canada 46-5, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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“The limit does not exist,” Chancellor exclaimed when asked a question about an hour after the Wallaroos were knocked out of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Australia showed some fight early but couldn’t hold on as the Canadians ran away with a big win in the quarters.
Jo Yapp’s time with the Wallaroos has come to an end, with back-to-back defeats to the world’s top two teams in women’s rugby. England recovered from an uncharacteristically slow start to beat Australia last weekend in Brighton, and Canada also secured a comfortable win.
But of the 23 players selected to represent Australia in Saturday’s quarter-final, 12 of them were 25 years old or younger. Samantha Wood and Faitala Moleka have formed a young yet formidable halves pairing, and there are rising stars in the forward pack too.
Australia will host the next Women’s Rugby World Cup in four years. Piper Duck, Kaitlan Leaney, Desire Miller and Tabua Tuinakauvadra all seemed supremely confident about the heights this Wallaroos team can reach ahead of that tournament on home soil.
When Chancellor first joined the Wallaroos 10 years ago, the team spent one week together in camp all years. In 2025, the Aussies have been on the road for more than 100 days, playing seven Tests before touching down in England for the World Cup.
“You don’t want to talk about potential, you want to talk about performance but I want to say that this group has that potential. We’re sitting on the edge of something,” Chancellor told RugbyPass and Rugby.com.au.
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“Jo said it at the huddle at the end of the game, this group is going to go so far, we’re just so close to making it click. The fact that we had that fight and that belief to keep going when it could’ve felt like it was all over I think is a testament to where we’ve grown as a team.
“I really look forward to what we’ve got in the next couple of years.
“We do have a group of girls who, as a core, will probably… stay in it for the next four years.
“They’ve got so much experience, they’re getting so much more confidence in the way they want to call the game, play the game, believe themselves, back themselves. You’ve seen that in so many characters through this World Cup,” she added.
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“We’re in a really great position where more games together, which we’re getting, means we’re going to be in a really strong position in the next couple of years.”
Desiree Miller, who scored six tries in four appearances at the World Cup, was asked about the Matildas earlier this week. Australia’s women’s football team shared a video of support for the Wallaroos ahead of their final pool match against England’s Red Roses.
The Matildas achieved a fourth-place finish at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia, with that team truly embodying what it means to be trailblazers for the growth of women’s sport Down Under – actually becoming one of the most popular teams in the nation.
Two years from that World Cup, the Matildas have 749,000 followers on Instagram. That’s more followers than the Queensland Maroons in rugby league (533,000) and AFL giants Collingwood Magpies who have about 433,000.
Knockout
11 - 12
Final
6 - 44
SF1
15 - 16
SF2
17 - 29
QF1
24 - 28
QF2
30 - 24
QF3
28 - 29
QF4
Looking ahead to their own World Cup in Australia, the Wallaroos want to have a similar effect as an inspirational team representing a proud sporting nation. It might be four years away, but what happens between now and then will be significant.
“I think that’s the hope and the idea. The Tillies had such an effect on their World Cup and now we have this momentous event, biggest World Cup for women,” Miller said.
“Hopefully we can carry that legacy and carry it over the next few years and then again in ’29 and we’ll just see the change in not only women’s rugby but women’s sport.”