Australia v England
The two teams had the honour of launching the top tier of the new WXV venture.
Result: Australia 7 England 42
Player of the match Holly Aitchison
England gained their expected win at the Sky Stadium, Wellington, but they couldn’t keep a clean sheet.
They were nearly picture-perfect at the start. After Meg Jones showed she had been practising Joe Marler’s heading skills, a clean line-out off the top came to Hannah Botterman and nobody could stop her in time. Australia’s marking was made more difficult by Marlie Packer’s initial peel; but Ella Wyrwas fed the ball to Botterman following in her wake.
Next Alex Matthews, who had an outstanding game, worked a turnover; the ball was moved away quickly for Jess Breach to display her dancing feet. As she was held, she slipped the ball inside for Ella Wyrwas to dive over.
The Wallaroos were forced into a change: an injured Maya Stewart replaced by Desiree Miller on debut.
This stage of the game was marked by a series of minor errors halting progress. Then Zoe Aldcroft’s quick off-load to Connie Powell saw her make a pacy break to re-establish English command.
A TMO intervention spelt bad news for Annabelle Codey. She was shown yellow for a shoulder-to- head contact on Packer. Worse was to follow later.
England exploited the advantage at once. Aitchison’s kick to touch finished with another rolling maul – try to the same M. Packer.
Just short of the break the Wallaroos paid more obviously for their infringements. The Red Roses hammered at the line, then Wyrwas suddenly switched play back to the blind-side for Breach to stroll in for her 35th (thirty-fifth!) try. Aussie inattention let her run right across under the posts, to allow Aitchison to complete a faultless 4/4 from the kicking tee. That was the bonus point assured.
Half-time 28-0
No-one in the England camp can pretend the second-half went as well. This was due in large measure to typical Aussie defiance. Right at the end of the game they were laying siege to the Roses’ line.
But in the meantime Packer claimed her second try, and Jones received a clever short pass from Wyrwas to go over.
The Codey saga grew worse as the TMO intervened a second time to point out another upright tackle on an opponent, this time Wyrwas. The officials decreed a second yellow, but yellow + yellow = red. It remains to be seen how the disciplinary committee views matters.
There were fine performances all over the shop, notably Botterman and Matthews up front, and Aitchison looked capable of steering a monster cargo-ship through a narrow canal in thick fog.
It is concerning that England couldn’t close the game right down once they were a player up. Everyone knew they were going to win, but the question was how? They scored some convincing tries, but they couldn’t put a damper on the Wallaroos’ efforts. In the closing moments they earned themselves no credit for conceding four off-side penalties. Sarah Beckett paid the price with a yellow on 80 minutes.
Despite the Aussies’ huge efforts at the end, their own error count had continued, so England conceded just that one try against. But a player up for 23 minutes and not a single score? What would the Black Ferns have achieved in the same circumstances?
The Teams
Australia
1 *Brianna Hoy (NSW Waratahs), 2 Tania Naden (ACT Brumbies, 6 caps), 3 Eva Karpani (NSW Waratahs, 17), 4 Michaela Leonard (captain, Western Force, 18), 5 Annabelle Codey (Queensland Reds, 4), 6 Siokapesi Palu (ACT Brumbies, 3) 7 Emily Chancellor (Harlequins, 19), 8 Kaitlan Leaney (Harlequins, 11), 9 Layne Morgan (NSW Waratahs, 15), 10 Carys Dallinger (Queensland Reds, 3), 11 Ivania Wong (Queensland Reds, 8), 12 Arabella McKenzie (Harlequins, 18), 13 Georgina Friedrichs (NSW Waratahs, 15), 14 Maya Stewart (NSW Waratahs, 5), 15 Faitala Moleka (ACT Brumbies, 2)
Bench: 16 Adiana Talakai (NSW Waratahs, 12 caps), 17 Bree-Anna Cheatham (Queensland Reds, 5), 18 Emily Robinson (NSW Waratahs, 21), 19 Atasi Lafai (NSW Waratahs, 6), 20 Ashley Marsters (Melbourne Rebels, 23), 21 *Sarah Dougherty 22 Cecilia Smith (Queensland Reds, 8) 23 *Desiree Miller (NSW Waratahs)
*uncapped
England
15 Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 25 caps), 14 Abby Dow (Trailfinders, 37), 13 Megan Jones (Leicester Tigers, 14), 12 Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 15), 11 Jess Breach (Saracens, 30), 10 Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears, 22), 9 Ella Wyrwas (Saracens, 3), 1 Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears, 39), 2 Connie Powell (Harlequins, 11), 3 Maud Muir (Gloucester- Hartpury, 22), 4 Rosie Galligan (Saracens, 11), 5 Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 45), 6 Maisy Allen (Exeter Chiefs, 2), 7 Marlie Packer (captain, Saracens, 96), 8 Alex Matthews (Gloucester- Hartpury, 59)
Bench: 16 Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears, 51 caps), 17 Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury, 7), 18 Kelsey Clifford (Saracens, 2), 19 Sarah Beckett (Gloucester-Hartpury, 32), 20 * Daisy Hibbert- Jones (Loughborough Lightning), 21 Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury, 64), 22 Sophie Bridger (Saracens, 1), 23 Emma Sing (Gloucester-Hartpury, 5)
*uncapped
Officials:
Referee: Lauren Jenner (FIR)
ARs: Maggie Cogger-Orr (NZR) and Taneika Uerata (NZR) TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
Afterthoughts
Aussie supporters had few illusions about the match. One view was the old truism:’You’ve got to play the best to be the best’. But a call for rapid professionalisation is likely to go unheard. The funding isn’t there, and that’s assuming the will is there inside the Australian board.
We shouldn’t forget the excoriating letter the Wallaroos sent to their union over the promises made to them and not fulfilled; s similar pattern to what happened in Ireland and Wales. In those two countries steps were taken to improve matters.
New Zealand rugby failed to confirm its addiction to the game by showing a large stadium most parts empty. It leaves a sense of parochial interest only. A nation committed to the game would surely have turned out in larger numbers. “WXV 1- giving the people what they want!”, shouts the slogan – how true was that in the capital?
In one of her reports Rosie Galligan mentioned how the Red Roses’ leadership group has grown smaller; the coaches input is bigger. That is a fascinating switch.
Codey signed for Loughborough Lightning at the start of the year. She is the daughter of the RA president, David Codey. Is it at all significant that she didn’t start playing till she was 18? She advanced fast through the game, but has paid a heavy price at the start of WXV1.
Punishments for poor tackling are being meted out, but they aren’t reducing its frequency. Has World Rugby got an alternative solution handy?
Some raw stats: six tries for England: Botterman, Wyrwas, Packer (2), Breach, Jones. Aitchison 6/6 conversions. For Australia: try Marsters, conversion Dallinger.
