'Sébastien Chabal of the Wallaroos': Hamilton overcomes the odds to lead Aussies to World Cup quarter-finals

Grace Hamilton has overcome much disappointment this year to put on a standout performance during the Wallaroos’ 13-7 win against Wales in Whangarei on Saturday.

Australian coach Jay Tregonning made two of ‘the toughest calls of his career’ back in August when he first took the captaincy away from Hamilton and then dropped her from the national side altogether. But she has put in an enormous amount of effort to push her way back in and played a phenomenal game showing everyone why she deserves to be there.

Hamilton led the way as the Aussies hung on in another close match with a player in the bin to guarantee a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals.

There was nothing but praise from the commentators for Hamilton following the game, acknowledging the hard work she has done to get back into the side.

“How awesome was Grace Hamilton? Some of her carries…she leads that tournament for carries,” said Nick McArdle. “And she gets her side over the advantage line time and time again.”

She’s just everywhere,” added Dom Du Toit. “She’s number one in all elements of the game, she does the hard yards…..she’s just a fighter. She is amazing for that team.”

“That’s what we start to mean when we start to talk about physicality, said Justin Harrison. “We talk about big impacts, and big moments, but we also talk about hard to stop, we talk about gaining metres when no one else is going to, we talk about Grace Hamilton looking like the Sébastien Chabal of the Wallaroos….there’s all that hair and the angles and elbows and knees, but there is also technically correct leg speed into contact, making sure long plays on ball, making sure she is communicating and showing up at the right time, not cutting off the nine and ten passing channel.

“All of these things are happening in amongst all of that beautiful athleticism we are seeing in Grace and also given the learning curve she has been through, she’s dropped away from the captaincy, she’s lifted her game and focus, and that is starting to show on the dirt – it’s great.”

When presented with the Mastercard player of the match award, Hamilton had no idea she had made a massive 28 carries throughout the match.

“Really? I didn’t know there were that many. I was just in the right place at the right time I guess,” said Hamilton humbly.

“Credit to all of my girls. I know that sounds cliché, but we really dug deep and we knew we had to execute this job today.”

It was a must-win game for both sides who were sitting on equal points in Pool A, after each notched one win and one loss so far in the tournament, it was scrappy and clunky at times, with frustration showing on both sides when opportunities slipped through both teams’ fingers and pressure began to build.

But in the end, the Wallaroos did enough to get over the line with the Welsh now needing other results to go their way.

“It’s massive for this group, we’ve come a long way” said Wallaroos captain Shannon Parry.

“That was the first box we wanted to tick, to get through to the quarter-finals.

“I’m really proud of the girls today.”

While the Wallaroos dominated in possession, they kept inviting the Welsh back in with poor discipline that they will want to clean up before the final.

It was hard not to be impressed with the massive defensive effort from the Welsh, making a whopping 259 tackles compared to Australia’s 94.

The Wallaroos opened the scoring in just the sixth minute when Iliseva Batibasaga darted across the line from close range.

They were quickly on the attack again but an error in the ruck released the pressure for Wales, and a penalty saw the Welsh make their way quickly up field. As the pressure mounted, it was Wales’ turn to take the foot off the pedal when the dropped the ball to give the Wallaroos a scrum feed.

The arm wrestle continued between the two sides until Welsh forward Sioned Harries burrowed her way through the Australian defensive line for her side’s first try in the 25^th minute.

A quick tap from a penalty got the Wallaroos inches from the line. But a few phases later saw a pass hit the referee instead of making its way to the four unmarked Aussies on the left-hand side.

Stan commentator Allana Ferguson called it an “absolute shocker.”

“Look at that overlap! That was a deadest try.”

The Welsh were able to weather the storm that continued, eventually forcing a mistake to give them a breather.

It wasn’t until right before halftime that the deadlock was broken. A breakdown in the scrum close to the Welsh line allowed Lori Cramer to give the Wallaroos the lead with a penalty goal, and the Aussies went to the sheds with a 10-7 lead.

A penalty close to the Welsh line early in the second half gave the Aussies a perfect opportunity to extend the lead further, but they opted to go for the try instead of goal and were held up over the line.

But the Aussies continued to leave the door open for a Welsh comeback by being their own worst enemy.

Despite being in the range of attack, the Wallaroos kept handing the ball over. A line out on the ten metre line resulted in a dropped ball a few passes later, then three penalties from scrums gifted the Welsh an opportunity to kick downfield to finally get out of their own end

“Another botched run to the Welsh line for the Wallaroos,” said commentator Sean Maloney.

But the Welsh were unable to capitalise on their chances either, with the match remaining anyone’s right until the end.

Emily Chancellor almost got the Wallaroos’ second try of the game but an attempted intercept pass didn’t stick.

After the two red cards towards the end of last week’s match against Scotland, the Aussies found themselves in familiar territory when debutant Kaitlan Leaney received a yellow card with ten minutes left in the match.

A late penalty goal to the Wallaroos gave the Aussies a six-point lead, but the Welsh went quickly on the attack and were looking to take advantage of the one player overlap. But a lost ball stopped their momentum and the Wallaroos were able to hang on for the win.