The Wallaroos have sent a warning shot to the world with a powerful 43-7 victory over Fiji in Suva to give coach Jo Yapp’s new-look Australian side a welcome jolt of confidence as they prepare for the Rugby World Cup in England this August.
Centre Bienne Terita scored a double and sevens superstar and three-time Olympian Charlotte Caslick made a belated yet joyous Wallaroos debut as Australia turned on a seven-try tune-up for this month’s Tests against New Zealand, USA and Canada.
However, the big win could have come at a significant cost, with Wallaroos player of the year Maya Stewart hobbling off in the 18th minute with a non-contact knee injury. And two-try hero Terita appears to have suffered another hamstring injury which may put her build up to the World Cup in jeopardy.
With Yapp naming six debutants in a bid to get RWC combinations clicking, the Wallaroos were bracing for a baptism of fire in their first Test on Fijian soil. The home side arrived inspired by Fijian Drua’s last-gasp victory over Queensland Reds the night prior, weathering seven lead changes to snatch an 11-try game with 52 seconds left.
Sure enough, the proud Fijiana flew out of the blocks. Despite last playing a Test in September – when they suffered a narrow 12-10 loss to the Netherlands – the home side weathered an early storm of Wallaroos attacking raids to counterattack in style, sending 20-year-old Alfreda Fisher over the line in her first Test as Fijiana captain.
Shocked into action, the Wallaroos shucked off the rust that had gathered since their WXV2 win over Scotland in October. After several strong carries from No 8 Tabua Tuinakauvadra, the Australians attacked on the right where teenage fullback Caitlyn Halse surged onto a short pass to reverse-spin over the line for 7-all.
A big shot by Faliki Pohiva on wrecking ball opposite Salanieta Nabuli triggered a turnover and the young Penrith prop made it a triple play when she broke the line then won a scrum penalty. It allowed halfback Ash Marsters to steal a quick tap and send sevens convert Terita spearing over to snatch a 14-7 advantage
Terita’s strong running was creating havoc in the tramlines and in the 26th minute, replacement fly-half Trileen Pomare floated a lovely ball to the sevens convert to take a lunging catch. Unfortunately, the act of touching down in the corner winded Terita so badly she had to be piggybacked off the field for treatment.
It brought Caslick – a Test debutant at age 30 – onto the field. The 2016 Rio gold-medallist made an immediate impact, running onto an inside ball to set up Wallaroos captain Siokapesi Palu for a rampage through two defenders to crash over. Suddenly, Australia were 26-7 up and on a tear. In the shadows of halftime, winger Desiree Miller turned the screws, latching onto a sweet ball from Marsters to make it 31-7 at half-time.
Somehow, after leading early, Fiji had let in five first-half tries, a painful echo of their July meeting with the Wallaroos in Sydney in which Fiji led 5-0 only to suffer a 64-5 shellacking. There, gymnast-turned-winger Miller became the second Wallaroo to score four tries in a Test (Ruan Sims got four against South Africa in 2006).
With the game in hand, Yapp rang the changes. Caslick almost got a fairytale first Test try when Pomare sliced through but the pass was intercepted. It was left to Layne Morgan to get the scoreboard rolling again with a trademark quick tap and try, and late blooming veteran Tania Naden sealed the win with a seventh try from a rolling maul.
Last year’s win over Fiji was the Wallaroos’ first under coach Yapp and they have built steadily ever since. Despite going winless in last year’s Pacific Four series, the team soared to three straight wins to qualify for the World Cup. Whether its enough to challenge Yapp’s former side, England’s all conquering Red Roses, remains to be seen.
But after a fourth-successive win Australia has risen to No 6 in the IRB rankings behind England, New Zealand, Canada, France and Ireland and this win puts more wind in their sails. With stars Bree-Anna Browne and Emily Chancellor returning from injury and Sevens weapons Charlotte Caslick and Tia Hinds in the mix, they are building steam to shock the world in England.
