Major selection twist for Wallaroos months out from Rugby World Cup

Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp has revealed that HSBC SVNS Series stars, including Maddison Levi and Isabella Nasser, “have not made themselves available” for national selection during the Pacific Four Series, seemingly bringing their Rugby World Cup dreams to an end.

Levi was crowned World Rugby’s Sevens Player of the Year in 2024, and many were excited to see the try-scoring machine suit up for the Queensland Reds, but a hand injury suffered during SVNS Perth in January meant that wasn’t possible.

When coach Yapp unveiled the Wallaroos’ wider training squad of 40 players last month, Levi and the other sevens athletes weren’t included, which prompted a series of questions about their availability during a 20-minute press conference at Rugby Australia.

With those players focused on the winner-takes-all SVNS Series World Championship in Los Angeles, which was held the same weekend as the Wallaroos’ first Test of the year against Fijiana, it seemed the door wasn’t shut on a call-up for the Pacific Four Series.

The Wallaroos announced an initial squad for the tournament but were able to add another six players to that group at a later date. Adiana Talakai, Annabelle Codey, Arabella McKenzie, Caitlin Urwin and Waiaria Ellis have since been named.

“No, not at this point,” Yapp told reporters when asked if other sevens players could potentially join the Wallaroos at a later date.

“The other sevens players have not made themselves available.”

Coach Yapp has included two genuine SVNS Series superstars in Australia’s matchday 23 to take on New Zealand’s Black Ferns on Saturday afternoon, with Caslick selected on the wing and one-time Australia Sevens captain Tia Hinds picked at flyhalf.

Both Caslick and Hinds debuted off the bench as the Wallaroos secured a comprehensive 43-7 win over Fijiana last weekend, which was the team’s first of seven Tests ahead of the Rugby World Cup in England, which starts in late August.

Georgina Friedrichs is also back in the mix after missing the Fijiana match through injury, and NSW Waratahs skipper Emily Chancellor has also been named at openside flanker. But the inclusion of those sevens players can be a difference-maker for this team.

“It’s great to have Charlotte in there, to have Tia in there,” Yapp explained.

“These are players that, although they don’t have loads of 15s experience, they’ve got a lot of rugby experience on big stages.

“To have them in our side is great.”

The Wallaroos have never beaten the Black Ferns. Australia were beaten 50-nil by New Zealand in Redcliffe a couple of years ago, suffered a one-sided 67-19 loss at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium last May, and were beaten again 62-nil the next month in Brisbane.

New Zealand’s Black Ferns are the defending Rugby World Cup champions, and they’re widely expected to at least challenge for the top prize once again in England. While the tournament hosts and Canada are the frontrunners, New Zealand are a talented side.

“We know that it is a big challenge and one that we’re really excited for,” she said.

“We’ve grown a lot in the last 12 months. We’ve obviously come off the back of WXV and then Fiji, but we know this is a step up again.

“It’ll be a really good opportunity to put a marker down and see where we’re at.”