Wallaroos can match Wales in Sydney wet: skipper
The hosts were stunned 22-12 in Brisbane last week and the sides will clash again on Friday at North Sydney Oval, the Wallaroos' final Test before next month's World Cup.
Keen to play up-tempo rugby under coach Jo Yapp, Chancellor admits they must also show they're not one-trick ponies.
With rain forecast, they'll get their chance.
"We're confident with a lot of what we did, just need that execution to be a little better," Chancellor said ahead of her second game in charge.
"We've been well aware it's going to rain for most of the time we've been here and it's stuck true.
"We want to play to the conditions well and prove ... we can play this kind of rugby as well."
Chancellor, captaining with Siokapesi Palu (foot) injured, said the return of lethal winger Maya Stewart from a knee injury was "an emotional win" ahead of England's World Cup.
Wales have made seven changes to last week's side, with back-rowers Alex Callender and Kate Williams to co-captain the side for the first time.
Winger and three-time rugby sevens Olympian Jasmine Joyce will win her 50th Wales cap in Sydney.
"Wounds are still open and you're feeling the pain ... it's a great opportunity," Chancellor said of the quick turnaround.
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The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
‘Special things ahead': Lions coach says Wallabies will be a force at 2027 World Cup
'I said to Joe (Schmidt) before the game there on the pitch that I think special things are going to happen for this team over the next 18 months, and by the time the World Cup comes around they'll be a force to be reckoned with, like everyone's seen in the past. 'They've got some special athletes and some special players and that's no surprise to us of how they've performed over the last couple of weeks.' When informed of Farrell's comments, Schmidt joked he agrees 'with everything Faz tells me'. 'Faz and I would be good friends, go back a long way, have worked together a lot and we would also be quite like minded around probably studying other teams,' Schmidt said. 'I'd like to think that he's right.' The Wallabies' victory in Sydney opened the door for the series win by the Lions to carry an asterisk - given the contentious nature of the end of the second Test at the MCG, where the Wallabies argued Jac Morgan's cleanout on Carlo Tizzano, prior to Hugo Keenan's matchwinning try, was illegal. But Schmidt didn't want to go down that road after the game on Saturday night, which had crept into early Sunday morning by the time the teams finished their media duties. 'We can't get those points back,' Schmidt said. 'We can only try to win the points that are ahead of us. I think I've said before I'm very boring and pragmatic and all we can do is try to affect what happens to us in the future and try to control as much of that as possible by trying to grow. 'The one thing I would say is I felt we grew through the series. We lost the first half of the series poorly, we won the second half, we played well in the first half of the second test, didn't succeed eventually in that test but I felt we deserved to win both halves today. 'We fought our way through very difficult conditions and got destabilised a couple of times but fought our way through that as well.' Schmidt and Wallabies captain Harry Wilson both revealed the power of Alaalatoa's address to the team on Friday, after the side had struggled to bounce back from the disappointment of losing a thriller in Melbourne. Schmidt said Alaalatoa had badly injured his shoulder in the 14th minute of the MCG Test but played out the first half in pain and 'with one wing'. 'It was a little bit of the inspiration the players needed yesterday,' Schmidt said. 'We were flat early in the week and we got a little bit of an upswing, but I really think Alan helped.' Wilson said Alaalatoa had spoken to the team about having to be prepared to suffer to win. 'The thing with Allan, what he says he delivers - and he's spoken to us quite a bit about willing to put your body on the line for the team, whatever it takes to win,' Wilson said. 'In that game in Melbourne he tore his shoulder pretty early and he put his body on the line for the next 25 minutes. 'When he came in and spoke to us the day before a game about what we need to be willing to do for each other to win a game, it really did hit home.' The Wallabies now turn their attention to two games in South Africa for the Rugby Championship, and Schmidt said he will name a squad on Wednesday. He confirmed Jake Gordon was in doubt after injuring a hamstring at training, which could see Nic White push out his international retirement for a few more weeks. White was outstanding against the Lions and received a standing ovation when he came off, but Schmidt joked: 'Whitey will rival me maybe in terms of being kind of like Johnny Farnham, one more tour.'
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Special things ahead': Lions coach says Wallabies will be a force at 2027 World Cup
'I said to Joe (Schmidt) before the game there on the pitch that I think special things are going to happen for this team over the next 18 months, and by the time the World Cup comes around they'll be a force to be reckoned with, like everyone's seen in the past. 'They've got some special athletes and some special players and that's no surprise to us of how they've performed over the last couple of weeks.' When informed of Farrell's comments, Schmidt joked he agrees 'with everything Faz tells me'. 'Faz and I would be good friends, go back a long way, have worked together a lot and we would also be quite like minded around probably studying other teams,' Schmidt said. 'I'd like to think that he's right.' The Wallabies' victory in Sydney opened the door for the series win by the Lions to carry an asterisk - given the contentious nature of the end of the second Test at the MCG, where the Wallabies argued Jac Morgan's cleanout on Carlo Tizzano, prior to Hugo Keenan's matchwinning try, was illegal. But Schmidt didn't want to go down that road after the game on Saturday night, which had crept into early Sunday morning by the time the teams finished their media duties. 'We can't get those points back,' Schmidt said. 'We can only try to win the points that are ahead of us. I think I've said before I'm very boring and pragmatic and all we can do is try to affect what happens to us in the future and try to control as much of that as possible by trying to grow. 'The one thing I would say is I felt we grew through the series. We lost the first half of the series poorly, we won the second half, we played well in the first half of the second test, didn't succeed eventually in that test but I felt we deserved to win both halves today. 'We fought our way through very difficult conditions and got destabilised a couple of times but fought our way through that as well.' Schmidt and Wallabies captain Harry Wilson both revealed the power of Alaalatoa's address to the team on Friday, after the side had struggled to bounce back from the disappointment of losing a thriller in Melbourne. Schmidt said Alaalatoa had badly injured his shoulder in the 14th minute of the MCG Test but played out the first half in pain and 'with one wing'. 'It was a little bit of the inspiration the players needed yesterday,' Schmidt said. 'We were flat early in the week and we got a little bit of an upswing, but I really think Alan helped.' Wilson said Alaalatoa had spoken to the team about having to be prepared to suffer to win. 'The thing with Allan, what he says he delivers - and he's spoken to us quite a bit about willing to put your body on the line for the team, whatever it takes to win,' Wilson said. 'In that game in Melbourne he tore his shoulder pretty early and he put his body on the line for the next 25 minutes. 'When he came in and spoke to us the day before a game about what we need to be willing to do for each other to win a game, it really did hit home.' The Wallabies now turn their attention to two games in South Africa for the Rugby Championship, and Schmidt said he will name a squad on Wednesday. He confirmed Jake Gordon was in doubt after injuring a hamstring at training, which could see Nic White push out his international retirement for a few more weeks. White was outstanding against the Lions and received a standing ovation when he came off, but Schmidt joked: 'Whitey will rival me maybe in terms of being kind of like Johnny Farnham, one more tour.'
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
Pride restored: The Wallabies' magnificent win proves they're back
The fact that this proved to be, without doubt, the driest and calmest 40 minutes of the entire night, made the decision appear absurd. Yes, storms with lightning can be serious, but surely this showpiece match being beamed around the world would only be stopped for that long when lightning had already taken out the three adjoining suburbs and was heading our way? The NRL match between the Roosters and the Manly Sea-Eagles over Brookvale way didn't blink, despite being under the same weather pattern, so why was this match? And it wasn't just that stoppage that caused frustration. Time and again in the second half there were so many injury stoppages and referee consultations with assistant referees and the bunker that – again – it was nothing less than absurd. Sure, the officials have to make the right decision, we get that. But that need has to be balanced against the need to keep the match moving. We'll live with the odd mistake — see the final decision of the second Test (don't get the fans started) — but rugby at this level cannot continue to have so many stoppages. And another frustration, seeing as you ask – beyond the wonder of the superb tries by Dylan Pietch, Max Jorgensen and Tate McDermott – were the tries gone begging that were left out there. A cricket score to the goodies was possible, but just didn't happen. Just after the resumption of play, after superb lead-up work by Nic White and Tom Hooper – who had a great game – Will Skelton slipped a singularly slick pass to the hugely talented but slightly erratic prop Taniela Tupou who hit the accelerator in a manner entirely unbecoming for a man who would give you little change from 140 kgs. He was through the defence and going faster still! Oh how we roared in Row P on the southern end of the ground as Tupou roared towards us like 'Pavarotti on a skateboard', to borrow Denis Commeti's felicitous phrase. The line was wide open and a try for the ages was just 15 metres away. Quite what happened next was not clear – a pass gone awry, or a simple drop? But the ball slipped through his fingers and went to ground. Bugger! Twenty minutes later, just after Len Ikitau nearly burrowed through the Lions' forward pack to go over, the ball came out to our superb fullback Tom Wright on the fly, who just spilled the pill with the line again wide-open and Jorgensen all but unmarked on the wing. Just a couple of minutes later again, it was Jorgensen himself who raged towards the stripe with his fellow winger Dylan Pietsch just outside him. Jorgensen took the tackle and released the ball superbly, only for Pietsch to just bobble it. Against such quibbles however, the Wallabies really were magnificent for their richly deserved 22-12 win and the lessons out of this match surely obvious to all. First and foremost it was concrete confirmation of what your ever less humble correspondent wrote last week: two years out from a home World Cup, this side has the makings of magnificence in it. Ways must be found to keep them together. The heart of the pack must be Will Skelton. He is way too important to Australian rugby to be plying his wares in club rugby for La Rochelle in the French Championnat. Instead of having him as a fly-in fly-out Wallaby lock for three or four Tests a year, get him back here for the full season. It is not just his heft in the pack and his ability to make metres with five men on his back. It is his presence, his terrifying insouciance no matter what the opposition are throwing at him – his ability to lift the team around him. We now understand what we didn't when Eddie Jones unexpectedly named him Wallabies captain for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. How different that campaign, too, might have been had Skelton not been injured early to miss all but the first and last matches. But Skelton is the man. We all saw it tonight. With him, Nick Frost was a revelation in the lineouts, constantly securing the ball for us, and pinching theirs. Taniela Tupou, as mentioned, is like no prop we've ever seen before and like Hooper and Skelton is about to head off to European club rugby. Kiss' challenge will be to bring these crucial bits of the jigsaw puzzle back to Oz and turn them into the World Cup winning team they really could be, while Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight – and maybe even James Slipper for another year? – keep the home fires burning. Meantime it must be time to move Tate McDermott from the reserves bench to make him starting half-back every time. Yes, Nic White had a great game, and the standing ovation he received when he went off with twenty minutes to go was both for his Wallaby career now concluded, and how well he had played on the night. But McDermott is obviously the future, and it may as well start now. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii gets better with every match and – good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise – should be a mainstay of the Wallaby backline for years to come. Max Jorgensen on the wing was dangerous every time he touched the ball as was Dylan Pietsch. Tom Lynagh went off with concussion 33 minutes in, but there is now no more doubt about either his courage or his skill. This match proves it. The Wallabies are back. We just need to back them, keep them together and watch them continue to grow. For now, be proud. Tonight, they killed it. A word for the Lions, though? Yes. Congratulations. Led by your magnificent captain Maro Itoje, you were worthy winners and by and large played a great kind of rugby. Bravo. Your supporters were great, and displayed the spirit that makes rugby such a wonderful international game.
