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‘We’re here to win’: Wallaroos look to send message to World Cup rivals
By Finn Morton at Salford Community Stadium, Salford
Emily Chancellor celebrated her birthday in Manchester this week, but Australia’s co-captain is hopeful of another present on Saturday as the Wallaroos look to open their Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign with a statement against Samoa.
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Chancellor will share the leadership duties along with NSW Waratahs teammate Kaitlan Leaney, who is set to become the 20th captain in Wallaroos history. Both women have been named to start in the forward pack, with ‘Chance’ lining up at openside flanker yet again.
Michaela Leonard and Piper Duck, who have also been named in the run-on side in the second row and at blindside flanker respectively, also boast experience as former captains of the national side.
This is an Australian outfit that is eager to make their mark to open their World Cup campaign, with crucial Tests against the USA and England to follow. If the Wallaroos can beat Samoa and then the Americans, a spot in the quarter-finals would be guaranteed.
“It would be a lovely birthday present but I think I’ve probably ridden the birthday message a little bit too long in this environment,” Chancellor told reporters on Friday.
“Ultimately we’re here to win this World Cup and starting from game one, we want to come out firing, we want to be able to put out a performance that sends a message to the rest of the World Cup but also something that will show to us as a team that the work we’ve been putting in has set us up in the right space.
“I think we’re ready and raring to go.”
Australia are looking to build off their one-sided 36-5 win over Wales at North Sydney Oval on August 1, which followed an unwanted defeat to the same foe just six days earlier at Brisbane’s Ballymore Stadium.
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After taking out the WXV 2 title in South Africa last year – the first major trophy in team history – the Wallaroos continued to show signs of promise during the Pacific Four Series and into those Tests against the Welsh.
In Brisbane, a lightning delay brought a halt to the Test, just 12 minutes into the fixture. While the hosts failed to recover once the match resumed, bouncing back the following week is a result that gave the Wallaroos “lots of confidence” going into the World Cup.
“As it started to trickle as we were out there in the captain’s run, I said it when we’re back in Sydney, I now love the wet weather game that we’ve learned to play,” Chancellor said, although it’s only forecast to be cloudy during the game at this stage.
“I feel confident and I feel like the whole team was really confident in our game plan in wet weather so the idea of playing a little bit of wet weather footy actually excites me now.
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“The two Test matches against Wales were a really good first learning in that game one of how we don’t want to feel at the end of a game. We don’t get a second chance when we’re at a World Cup so now it’s about executing game two against Wales first time round.
“Every game at a World Cup is a must-win,” she added. “We don’t want to leave anything to chance and we know that ultimately the top two teams go through… if we win our first two games, we create that opportunity as a guarantee.”
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