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'Records are meant to be broken': Wallaroos entering quarter-finals with nothing to lose

Shannon Parry motivating her Wallaroos side. Photo by Hannah Peters - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images

Wallaroos captain Shannon Parry says the Wallaroos’ forward pack needs to match tournament favourites England if they’re to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

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Free of expectations against super-hot favourites England, the Wallaroos are hoping they can finally find their best rugby and a shock pathway to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals.

Jay Tregonning’s side face a rampaging Red Roses who boast a 28-Test winning streak and tournament favouritism in Auckland on Sunday.

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It’s an unlucky match-up for Australia, who finished sixth after group stage play and as such were due to play the third-ranked side in the last eight.

“To win the World Cup, you’ve got to beat everyone. So it’s a great challenge,” captain Shannon Parry told AAP, painting the clash in a positive light.

“We’ve got nothing to lose so we’re looking to just put in a really proud performance that we can hang our heads high on.”

Australia reached the quarters after beating Scotland 14-12 and Wales 13-7, but Parry believes their best performance came in their opening-night loss to New Zealand.

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The Wallaroos romped to a 17-0 lead against the Black Ferns before being swamped in the second half, losing 41-17 at Eden Park.

Parry believes the same ingredient from that loss will be back on Sunday – favouritism shifting to their opponents.

“The first game against the Kiwis where there was no pressure on us, we’ve just gone out and played footy, that was our best half of footy so far,” she said.

“This weekend, it’s gonna be really similar. The Poms are on 28 wins, their run, so there’s no pressure on us … records are meant to be broken. So let’s try to do it this Sunday.”

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Underscoring their favouritism, England have never failed to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup and have beaten Australia in all five previous meetings.

In words Parry would take great delight in hearing, England coach Simon Middleton admitted he had a “huge fear” of that streak snapping on Sunday.

“I don’t like losing. The fear of losing and having been on that side where we have lost is a driving motivator to not be in a position to lose again,” he said.

Tregonning has made three changes for the clash with Iliseva Batibasaga benched in favour of Layne Morgan at scrum-half due to her speed.

Lori Cramer shifts to the wing in the absence of Ivania Wong (hamstring) and Grace Kemp will start ahead of Atasi Lafai.

Parry said the key to success would be to make sure the Australian forward pack stood up.

“They are obviously a very robust forward pack that gets the go-forward to them. They score a lot of tries off rolling mauls and off their lineout scrum,” she said.

“For us it’s about controlling that set piece domain and then being able to use our electric backs as we’ve shown when we get them forward space, they’re really unstoppable.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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