England were too strong and too clinical for the Wallaroos.
The combination of the weather and England’s unrelenting pressure resulted in the Australian set-piece being under continual stress.
The Aussie set-piece had held its own against New Zealand, Scotland and Wales but the English were on another level.
Apart from the obvious comparison of professional versus amateur, just the number of Tests the English players have played is a chasm. For example, captain Sarah Hunter has more Test caps than the combined Wallaroos’ forward pack, while Jay Tregonning’s first game as coach of the Wallaroos was only in May this year.
Despite the pressure from England, Australia never stopped defending and just before halftime scored the best try of the match.
Captain Shannon Parry said they were not happy with the result but had to be proud of the effort.
So how do we reflect on this World Cup?
While the players and coaching staff had a goal of making the quarter-finals, a few commentators from the northern hemisphere were not so sure. As a consequence, you would expect the northern hemisphere has a new respect for the Wallaroos.
Although this was the ninth World Cup, it has generally been considered the first ‘real’ World Cup in terms of engagement, recognition and coverage.
It is a pity that more viewers, rugby fans or not, have not had the chance to watch all the matches, but two out of four games is better than was expected and Stan Sport did a very good job.
In terms of highlights and take outs, it was good to see Rugby Australia engage with former Wallaroos in jersey presentations and all past players and their bios are now listed on the Classic Wallabies website.
The continual improvement of the Wallaroos from being together for just a month shows what can be achieved. It was similar to how the Fijiana Drua developed in the Super W this year.
The inclusion of Bienne Terita and Sharni Williams from the sevens showed the value of a professional program. Both players were outstanding.
Sharni Williams. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
You just need to look at the Kiwis backline in players Stacey Fluhler, Ruby Tui, Therese Fitzpatrick and Portia Woodman who bring not just the physical attributes but also a professional mindset and experience.
Australia put 17 points on the Kiwis in game one, it will be interesting to see if another team can do that.
Lori Cramer’s body-on-the-line, try-saving tackle against Scotland will be on the highlight reel, as will Terita’s two tries against the Kiwis and Emily Chancellor’s try in the quarter-final.
Of course you could not ignore Grace Hamilton’s superwoman performances throughout.
Up until the England game the set piece was very good, so credit must go to the coaching staff.
For the future, the Aussie squad had a good mix of ages – only eight were 30 or older – so this led to some good experience.
Naturally it was not all roses and rainbows. Discipline was a problem, with the Wallaroos leading the card count, there is a bit of work to be done defending rolling mauls, plus the kicking needs more distance.
It was good to see the team get well-deserved exposure and recognition, with a number of newspaper articles, Tregonning was on radio at least three times in the last week, and Rugby Australia’s website produced an astonishing number of articles throughout the tournament.
Overall it was a great experience for the players and supporters. Arguably the World Cup has delivered more than what was probably expected.
What is next?
Arabella McKenzie, Emily Chancellor and Kaitlan Leaney are off to Harequins, Lori Cramer and Michaela Leonard are off to the Exeter Chiefs for the Allianz Premier 15s competition.
But most players head back to normal life, while Tregonning, having taken unpaid leave, will be back teaching.
Super W started in early March this year, so no doubt preseason training will commence later this year and it will be a few months until competitive games.
With four more NRLW teams starting next season, some players may head that competition, although that is a discussion for another day.
On the international front, 2023 is World Rugby’s inaugural annual WXV tournament, with qualifying via the Pacific Four Series in June against Canada, USA and New Zealand.
Lastly, well done Wallaroos, you did good!
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
It's easy to say last year was just Covid and everything is better but what do you base it on. In the first WC game Oz out kicked NZ 2-1. If NZ do their average of 10 kicks per game and get 30 in return how do they adapt. French kicking at goal is 75% compared to NZ 50%, and the French can kick penalties. Until NZ show they can beat the more physical organised French team the qestionmark remains. Oz were more Phyiscal in game 1 and NZ struggled until the 2 yellows.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
That would be good to see.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Cheers Muzzo, it has been a terrific tournament. I expect NZ to beat the France even though 12 of the NZ team did play France back in November. Having 4 of the 7s players in the backline will be almost unstoppable. As for the Wallaroos, QF was about right, would have liked to have seen them play England in less wet weather. As soon as I heard the weather forecast I thought England will thrive in a forward battle.
Atlas
Roar Rookie
In news today discussion between NZ and the home nations regarding the prospect of a British and Irish Lions Women’s tour of NZ, three test matches plus three to four midweek games. Wonderful for the game if that goes ahead.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
NZ's problem?? Hahaha yeh right Brendan, as they are not the easybeats from last years NH tour! Have a look at the squad, as there has been many changes, including the inclusion of quality sevens wahine.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Good write up Hugh, even though I'm a bit late!Lol. This weekend we see our defending champ Wahine toa up against the French challengers. Yes we realise they beat us during the end of year tour to the NH, as did the Poms, but there have been changes, as to who was there, to who we have there now. We do have those gold medalist Olympiad wahines involved now, as we saw in those first three tries last weekend, that were scored by them. There are also other inclusions into the overall squad that weren't there last year. Yes, new coach Wayne Smith, has got them back on track, & I do expect them to take it out this coming weekend. Strange though I did expect I'Iga to be starting & not off the bench, as it does look like she could be an impact player Condolences with the Wallaroos as I was expecting them to use the wide channels more against that English side that really battered & bashed there way into it, IMO.
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
I'd be worried about those numbers if I was relying on commercial success to pay my way.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
hope you’re not a white heterosexual male – then you’d be in real strife for saying that. stats shows more men watch / support AFLW than women https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299053/australia-number-of-afl-womens-tv-viewers-by-gender/
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say most women don't really watch sport. You get a few for sure, but in terms of meaningful and marketable statistics the numbers would be quite low. Even Netball... the highest participant game in Australia with 400,000+ women fails to draw the crowds. The cruel reality is the appetite for viewing women's sport is very low, and especially low among women. As for guys, most of us can't sit around all day watching every sport... so we're going to prioritise sports we are both familiar with and of the highest quality competition we can watch. This doesn't hold out much hope for the long term viability of professional women's sport... but we're not allowed to say that.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
exactamundo. How many women go on about supporting women's sports, yet they don't support them themselves, certainly not by turning up at the venue to watch. Maybe they're too busy watching the men's version of the same sport?
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
complaints by fans
East Coast Aces
Roar Rookie
A Roar team of the tournament would be good. This is my team of the tournament so far. 1. Cornborough ENG 2. Cokayne ENG 3. Bern ENG 4. Bremner NZ 5. Aldcroft ENG 6. Chancellor AUS 7. Hirini NZ 8. De Goede CAN 9. Cocksedge NZ 10. Demant NZ 11. Grisez FR 12. Fluhler NZ 13. Scarratt ENG 14. Woodman NZ 15. Boulard FR Notable omissions – Hamilton, Terita, Tui, all the 6N 10’s, Chloe Jacquet, Farries, Tessier and The rest of the English forwards, and the rest of the NZ backs. And I would defer to more learned friends for changes to the tight 5.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Hope more Oz players get the opportunity to play in the UK & France' great experience. Also it is what differentiates rugby from AFLW/NRLW
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
I wish we had seen Oz v Italy. I think Oz still take it.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
I think the France NZ game will be interesting as they French are much better kicking ball in hand and they have a reliable kicker. This will force the game to be played more in NZ half and the French will punish penalties. I am yet to see NZ play a tactical game and not sure how strong the NZ scrum will be or if it will cough up penalties.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
English and French scouts will have been watching the whole tournament. With Oz doing well more players will be contacted
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
Alot will come down to WR funding and participation fees. W6N will give each team at least 2 home games. Pacific 4 will be played in a single place meaning Oz gets it once per 4 years. WXV will also be 1 location per division but will have 6 teams. Yes these tournaments will provide income but as 3/4 will be away from home the costs will be big and how do you grow fans at stadiums. More girls are signing for Premier 15s rather than take domestic funding because the girls want games and money not just money. 6N unions have offered contracts but some girls are rejecting them because they get more development in England.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
RA give more regional games and support more regional women's teams than NZRU (5 v 4). Running the 5 teams and Super W could be scrapped and fund 30 odd players but how would the women develop on the field if no Super W.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
It's a tricky one. If Oz get into D1 they could lose all their games and like Italy in the men's drop down the rankings more than they should. If each year the walaroos win 1 or 2 from 5 is that acceptable. It's unclear how the group's will work but most likely they would have to beat one of the current semi finalist to get higher than two wins per year. If they were in D2 they could win D2.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
I think everyone is very keen to see an England v NZ match up. It is always a challenge looking in from the outside, so we can only surmise. Have come to the conclusion that RA recognise it is an opportunity, just like every other sporting code has eg cricket, soccer, NRLW, AFLW but rugby just don’t have the money. I also understand they cannot come out & say that, instead they refer to the need to plan & implement it properly, this gives them time until some $$ are available. Alternatively they believe spending the funds they have elsewhere will provide a greater return on investment. Which I sort of understand the Wallabies are the cash flow for rugby to survive in Australia & a winning Wallabies means a bigger cash flow. So you focus the $$ on trying to get the Wallabies winning.