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'We knew what was coming': Wallaroos coach praises 'fighting' spirit
Outgoing Australian women’s coach Jay Tregonning has left the team in a very good space, as they finished the inaugural WXV 1 tournament with their second successive win. The 25-19 result over Wales came despite being down to 13 players at one stage, with Tregonning saying the team was “fighting for each other”.
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“That’s exemplified when we’re you know down a few players and everyone’s doing someone else’s job for a certain amount of time,” he said post-match.
The Wallaroos lost Siokapesi Palu, who was shown a red card after a dangerous tackle, then Sera Naiqama was shown a yellow after a collapsed maul near the goal line resulted in a penalty try to Wales.
“We knew what was coming,” Tregonning said of the Welsh effort, that scored three lineout drives tries and were lining up a fourth to win the game before being repulsed by some tenacious Australian defence.
“We know that they maul out of their end trying to get penalties and get field position and when they get that field position they go back to the maul.
“But our players have really come along within being able to read the game and obviously make adjustments where needed… it’s just the way that they all dig in together and lead.”
Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard paid tribute to her opponents.
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“It was definitely a little bit of an arm wrestle and credit to Wales,” she said.
Match Summary 
1
Penalty Goals
0
4
Tries
3
1
Conversions
1
0
Drop Goals
0
151
Carries
89
8
Line Breaks
3
8
Turnovers Lost
11
5
Turnovers Won
5
“They played well and they came hard at us in defence and they read well what we were trying to put out there. I think we probably let ourselves down a little bit in execution around the breakdown in our shapes, it’s hard to play our pictures when we’re down a couple of critical players and having to change our shape.”
Player of the match Kaitlan Leaney, who put in a big shift at number eight, was proud of the “gold wall” of defence she’d been a part of.
“It’s something we’ve talked about for the last couple of months…no one gets through us. I feel like I’ll be replaying that last maul-D for the rest of my life.
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Fellow loose forward Emily Chancellor said that Wales “stuck it to” the Wallaroos.
“They had great line speed, great ruck pressure and we didn’t really react the way we should have. We talked during the week about how do you react when someone punches you in the face? It’s not what you want, but I’m really happy how we managed to keep it together and weather the storm while they were on the front foot.
For Leonard, being the good news story that Australian rugby fans can enjoy right now was something she described as “incredible”.
“The influx of messages and support from back home, all over the world, people everywhere – they’re behind it. People want to see rugby in Australia do well. They want to support someone, they want to support women’s sport. So the support out there this week, it’s been eye opening and it’s been incredibly empowering to know that people are watching, people care and they’re excited and behind us.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
2 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
2 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
9 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
205 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
9 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
2 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
205 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
2 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
4 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
9 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to comments