Wallaroos pick youngster as World Cup prep builds
Urwin and 17-year-old Ellis were the only two uncapped players named in the Australian national rugby women's squad, with the duo given their chance after producing a strong display for Australia A in last week's 50-22 victory over Samoa.
Ellis toured with the Wallaroos in South Africa last year but was unable to earn a Test cap, while Urwin joins the national squad for the first time.
The pair join Western Force star Samantha Wood and Waratahs quartet Annabelle Codey, Piper Duck, Brianna Hoy and Maya Stewart as fresh faces in the squad following the Pacific Four series.
Wood, Duck, Hoy and Stewart all return from injury in a boost ahead of the Rugby World Cup in England, which starts in August.
Codey earns a recall to the Wallaroos squad for the first time since 2023, while Siokapesi Palu will continue to captain the side with Emily Chancellor as her vice-captain.
The Wallaroos take on the Black Ferns in Wellington on July 12 for their second O'Reilly Cup clash of the year before hosting Wales on July 26 in Brisbane and August 1 at North Sydney Oval.
A squad of 32 will be selected for the World Cup following the clash at North Sydney before the Wallaroos depart for the United Kingdom on August 11.
The Wallaroos' first World Cup match is against Samoa on August 23 in Manchester.
"We're excited about the squad selected with players returning from injury and the likes of Caitlin Urwin and Waiaria Ellis deserving of their opportunity to take the next step with us this year," Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp said.
"New Zealand will provide another physical challenge and playing Wales twice on home soil leading into the World Cup will lay a good foundation ahead of the tournament."
The world No.6 Wallaroos started the Test year with a 43-7 win over Fiji on May 3.
They got beaten 38-12 by world No.3 New Zealand, before rebounding to beat world No.9 US 27-19.
World No.2 Canada handed Australia a reality check with a 45-7 thrashing in Brisbane, but the Wallaroos will start as favourites when they host world No.10 Wales across two matches.
WALLAROOS SQUAD: Katalina Amosa, Bree-Anna Browne, Charlotte Caslick, Emily Chancellor, Annabelle Codey, Lori Cramer, Piper Duck, Waiaria Ellis, Ashley Fernandez, Caitlyn Halse, Georgina Friedrichs, Tia Hinds, Brianna Hoy, Asoiva Karpani, Lydia Kavoa, Kaitlan Leaney, Michaela Leonard, Ashley Marsters, Desiree Miller, Faitala Moleka, Layne Morgan, Tania Naden, Bridie O'Gorman, Siokapesi Palu, Faliki Pohiva, Trilleen Pomare, Cecilia Smith, Maya Stewart, Adiana Talakai, Tabua Tuinakauvadra, Caitlin Urwin, Samantha Wood.
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Briton Arvid Lindblad drove for Red Bull during first practice - becoming only the second driver under 18 to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, after Verstappen. The 17-year-old delivered a respectable lap time to finish 13 With DPA Lando Norris has set the pace in practice for the British Grand Prix, outstripping Australian teammate Oscar Piastri to lay down a marker in pursuit of his first home victory. The McLaren pair are dominating the world championship race. Piastri has a 15-point advantage but the force may well be with Norris, who can bank on massive home support as he attempts to follow up his victory in Austria last weekend Norris even has his own grandstand at Silverstone, hosting 10,000 of his fans, and he delighted those supporters by setting a searing pace to end the day 0.222 seconds clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Crucially for Norris, who admitted on Thursday that he would swap his other race wins for success at Silverstone, he was over four tenths clear of Piastri in fourth. Lewis Hamilton raised hopes of more Silverstone success by enjoying a positive day in his Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has a remarkable record at his home race, winning a record nine times at Silverstone including victory in the rain last year. And wet weather is again forecast to affect the action across the weekend. The 40-year-old has also finished in the top three in all of his last 11 appearances here but is yet to stand on the podium in Ferrari colours. The Scuderia delivered an improved performance in Austria, with Leclerc third ahead of Hamilton in fourth. Hamilton, whose streak of 11 races without a podium finish is the longest of his career, showed signs of ending his podium drought at his home race as he topped the charts in first practice before finishing the day third after the second running. 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Piastri has a 15-point advantage but the force may well be with Norris, who can bank on massive home support as he attempts to follow up his victory in Austria last weekend Norris even has his own grandstand at Silverstone, hosting 10,000 of his fans, and he delighted those supporters by setting a searing pace to end the day 0.222 seconds clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Crucially for Norris, who admitted on Thursday that he would swap his other race wins for success at Silverstone, he was over four tenths clear of Piastri in fourth. Lewis Hamilton raised hopes of more Silverstone success by enjoying a positive day in his Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has a remarkable record at his home race, winning a record nine times at Silverstone including victory in the rain last year. And wet weather is again forecast to affect the action across the weekend. The 40-year-old has also finished in the top three in all of his last 11 appearances here but is yet to stand on the podium in Ferrari colours. The Scuderia delivered an improved performance in Austria, with Leclerc third ahead of Hamilton in fourth. Hamilton, whose streak of 11 races without a podium finish is the longest of his career, showed signs of ending his podium drought at his home race as he topped the charts in first practice before finishing the day third after the second running. Max Verstappen endured another difficult day for Red Bull, complaining of handling issues and saying that his tyres would not respond in the high-speed corners. The four-time world champion, who is 61 points adrift of Piastri in the title standings following his first-lap elimination in Austria, ended the day fifth fastest. Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were sixth and eighth respectively. Briton Arvid Lindblad drove for Red Bull during first practice - becoming only the second driver under 18 to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, after Verstappen. The 17-year-old delivered a respectable lap time to finish 13 With DPA
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Tupou needs to tame Lions to earn Wallabies recall
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"I think in the two games in the first 20 minutes they haven't really started that well ... they've actually missed a few opportunities and the more cohesion they develop, the more they'll be dangerous in finishing some of those opportunities. "They've got incredible strength and depth so as we see them play the Waratahs they'll develop those combinations and that will be what we'll be tracking beyond this Fiji game." Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt wants Taniela Tupou to send a reminder about what he can bring to the Test arena when the powerhouse prop squares off against the Lions. Tupou was demoted from the Wallabies line-up to face Fiji in Newcastle on Sunday and will instead turn out for his NSW Waratahs against the British and Irish tourists at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night. Schmidt hasn't closed the book on Tupou winning selection for the Wallabies' opening Test against the Lions in Brisbane on July 19 but said he needs to see more from the 29-year-old, who was in patchy form this Super Rugby Pacific season. "With Taniela, I'd love to see him just be really, really strong at set-piece," Schmidt said from Newcastle. "I think the set-piece is somewhere that can be a real strength for him and I felt in the Super Rugby, toward the end, he had some pretty good performances, particularly in the scrum, and then just making sure he's contributing around the field as best he can." Schmidt said that the best form of Tupou's 58-Test career wasn't that long ago, and urged the France-bound prop to revisit his last international appearance, against Ireland in December. "The last game he played for us was against Ireland and he made a 50-metre dash up the field at one stage and he was very strong in the scrum. "And so we haven't forgotten that and I'm hoping, and I've spoken to "Nella", that he hasn't forgotten it either. "He knows he's capable and we just want to see him demonstrate that capability." The Waratahs mark the third tour match for the Lions, who have had commanding victories over the Western Force and Queensland Reds. Andy Farrell's men have been particularly dominant in the second half, outscoring the two Australian sides 64-0. Schmidt said the tourists hadn't been at their best in those victories, which demonstrated their massive depth. "They've been pretty impressive," Schmidt said. "I think in the two games in the first 20 minutes they haven't really started that well ... they've actually missed a few opportunities and the more cohesion they develop, the more they'll be dangerous in finishing some of those opportunities. 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"I think the set-piece is somewhere that can be a real strength for him and I felt in the Super Rugby, toward the end, he had some pretty good performances, particularly in the scrum, and then just making sure he's contributing around the field as best he can." Schmidt said that the best form of Tupou's 58-Test career wasn't that long ago, and urged the France-bound prop to revisit his last international appearance, against Ireland in December. "The last game he played for us was against Ireland and he made a 50-metre dash up the field at one stage and he was very strong in the scrum. "And so we haven't forgotten that and I'm hoping, and I've spoken to "Nella", that he hasn't forgotten it either. "He knows he's capable and we just want to see him demonstrate that capability." The Waratahs mark the third tour match for the Lions, who have had commanding victories over the Western Force and Queensland Reds. Andy Farrell's men have been particularly dominant in the second half, outscoring the two Australian sides 64-0. Schmidt said the tourists hadn't been at their best in those victories, which demonstrated their massive depth. "They've been pretty impressive," Schmidt said. "I think in the two games in the first 20 minutes they haven't really started that well ... they've actually missed a few opportunities and the more cohesion they develop, the more they'll be dangerous in finishing some of those opportunities. "They've got incredible strength and depth so as we see them play the Waratahs they'll develop those combinations and that will be what we'll be tracking beyond this Fiji game."
