With the Wallabies pretty much out of the World Cup, why not a belated run down on the Wallaroos versus Black Ferns game.
The Wallaroos game as expected, was a bit of Groundhog Day. The Wallaroos were defeated by the Black Ferns 43-3. Add in what seems to be a season-ending injury to experienced fullback Lori Cramer and a red card to boot, it was not a great afternoon in Hamilton for the Wallaroos.
Midway through the first half you could see the marked difference between the teams. Similar to what Stephen Hoiles said after the Wales game, the Wallabies were boys against men; the Wallaroos, part-time players versus full-time players.
There is no getting around it. It is what it is.
The Wallaroos have talent and put in the effort but the Black Ferns did everything faster, were fitter, were just stronger and had bigger players.
In one of the early NRLW seasons, I’m pretty sure it was Andrew Johns who said when talking about the skills of Evania Pelite or Emma Tonegato that they demonstrated the benefits skills repetition provides with full-time training.
Recently in a Fox Sports interview, Emma Tonegato said she can thank the full-time rugby sevens program for her easy transition and success in the NRLW. When she started NRLW training she knew she had previously trained harder and longer with rugby sevens. So she had the strength and skills.
Putting that aside, did we learn much more from this game? In reality, not much more than from the Pacific Four Series in Canada. You can never question the effort of the Wallaroos. Throughout the game they did not shirk anything, and consistently put their bodies on the line – there would have been some very sore bodies post-match.
Bridie OGorman shown a red card against Black Ferns. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)
Probably the biggest surprise was that the Wallaroos were able to hang in there in the second half. They went into halftime down 31 to nil and you would not have been surprised if the game really blew out in the second half. But no, the Wallaroos hung in there and did not let in another try until the 76th and 81st minute.
The stats were not a pretty picture. The first half was all the Black Ferns in terms of territory and possession. The Wallaroos only spent 15 seconds in the opposition’s 22 while the Black Ferns spent close to seven minutes. In the first half, the Kiwis made 23 tackles, the Wallaroos 125. By the end of the game, things improved noticeably but the Wallaroos still made almost twice the number of tackles of the Kiwis (and missed 48 tackles).
The set piece was a challenge where they did lose two of their six lineouts and six of their 17 scrums.
Getting over the advantage line was another challenge.
In the second half, the Wallaroos were able to get more ball but just as they would begin to get a roll on and put some pressure on, there was a dropped ball lost in contact or a turnover. To be frank with all the tackling they did in the first half it was surprising there were not more errors.
It should be recognised that the Black Ferns played very well and had three debutants coming off the bench. There will be some cracking games later this month for the Kiwis against England and France in particular.
For the Wallaroos there are many challenges. At times it sounds like a broken record but there just is not the player depth, and consequently not a lot of competition for positions. The players do not play enough Super W matches either, ditto for the Wallabies players with Super Rugby Pacific.
Over the ditch, the women have the Farah Palmer Cup and the men have the NPC. In Australia, we do not have that additional tier of competition to develop players.
So next up in a couple of weeks is the inaugural WXV Tier 1 tournament that includes England ranked No.1, France ranked No.3 and Wales No.6.
One could mention, another challenge, that the other teams are in full-time mode while the Wallaroos after the Kiwi game headed back to work and uni but we won’t… another broken record issue.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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