Wallaroos coach’s verdict on gap between champion Blues and Waratahs

Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp doesn’t believe last week’s one-sided Super Rugby Champions Final between the Blues and NSW Waratahs at North Harbour Stadium was a true “reflection of the gap between” those title-winning sides from either side of the Tasman.

It was revealed in November that the winner of Australia’s Super Rugby Women’s competition would take on New Zealand’s champions from Super Rugby Aupiki in a blockbuster Trans-Tasman championship decider.

Winger Desiree Miller had starred in New South Wales’ 43-21 win over the Queensland Reds at North Sydney Oval, with the Waratahs winning the competition for the sixth time in eight seasons. As for the Reds, that was the fifth time they’d lost in the big dance.

Across the ditch, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe – who has come out of international retirement to play for the Black Ferns at this year’s Rugby World Cup – was named the Player of the Final in the Blues’ 26-19 win over Matatu at Auckland’s Eden Park.

Those results set the stage for the inaugural Champions Final, where the Blues showed their class once again during a dominant 36-5 triumph. Teenager Braxton Sorensen-McGee impressed as the Blues took control in tough conditions.

“Conditions were exceptionally tough,” Yapp told reporters on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately for Waratahs, they went into that game with about five starting players at Wallaroos out injured as we’ve already named them.

“It was tough for them. It probably wasn’t necessarily a reflection of the gap between them because I think with those other five players, if you bring in Maya [Stewart] and Piper [Duck] and Atasi [Lafai] and those sort of players then that result, I’m not saying they would’ve won but it would’ve been tighter.”

Many of the players from that Champions Final can be expected to suit up for their respective nations in an upcoming Pacific Four Series Test between the Wallaroos and Black Ferns at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium on May 10.

Australia open their international season one week earlier away to Fiji. The women in gold will play seven Test matches before this year’s Rugby World Cup in England, which gets underway on August 22 and finishes on September 27.

On Tuesday, Yapp walked into a room at Rugby Australia’s headquarters after the team’s training squad had been announced only a few hours earlier. The coach fielded questions for 20 minutes about the extended training group, which includes three sevens stars.

Three-time Olympian Charlotte Caslick headlines the trio that also includes HSBC SVNS Series stars Bienne Terita and Tia Hinds. In the absence of injured skipper Isabella Nasser, Hinds captained Australia earlier this month at the event at Singapore’s National Stadium.

There are 11 uncapped prospects in the 40-woman group, with those selected all hoping to earn their spot in the World Cup squad. The door still seems open for some other SVNS Series players to join a future Wallaroos squad, including the likes of Maddison Levi.

“After a very competitive and successful Super Rugby Women’s competition we have selected a squad that can continue the momentum built off the WXV 2 win last year,” Yapp said in a statement.

“It’s an exciting year for women’s rugby and the preparation we have with seven Test matches over the next three months is going to be crucial ahead of the World Cup.

“The squad is a mix of youth and experience with some new and returning players earning their opportunities.

“We are looking forward to seeing these players connect and grow throughout the upcoming camps and Pacific Four Series.”