The Wallaroos have kickstarted their buildup for the Rugby World Cup with a 36-19 victory over Fiji at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, but not before some bizarre scenes with their opponents.
Australia fielded a new-look team featuring 11 debutants under new coach Jay Tregonning and new captain Shannon Parry.
Former sevens star Parry – who took the reins from Grace Hamilton – made a strong start to the leadership, topping the tackle count with a committed performance.
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“Eleven debutants but they’ve been around our system a while now and they didn’t look out of place,” Parry told Nine and Stan Sport.
Parry, Mahalia Murphy, Pauline Piliae, Liz Patu and Ashley Masters were Australia’s try-scorers, in addition to a penalty try.
The victory was sweet revenge for the 15 Waratahs players in the Wallaroos squad after losing the Super W final to the Fijiana Drua earlier this season.
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“A little bit of rust but really good to see them get the job done,” Olympic champion Chloe Dalton said.
“Ash Marsters off the bench made a huge impact with her carries.”
There was plenty of action before the game had even kicked off.
Tears flowed during emotional national anthems before a comical moment as referee Amber McLachlan busted Fiji for having 16 players on the field.
The eagle-eyed McLachlan did a quick head count as eager substitute Ebony Satala was forced to return to the bench.
“Fijiana trying to get ascendancy early with 16 players on the field,” Tim Horan said in commentary.
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“Ebony Satala got a bit excited,” added Andrew Swain.
“You’ll have to cool your jets for a bit, Ebony.”
Drew Mitchell was also amused.
https://twitter.com/wwos/status/1522475420045746176?s=20&t=RJEhcrkmYAn4bE5nI87zNw
“I quite liked the way that Fijiana tried to start the game with 16 players,” Mitchell said.
“I don’t know what was going on there. One of the girls just wasn’t sure whether she was starting or on the bench. A bit of initiative to try and get one under the referee.”
Australia now face a short turnaround before another Test against Japan on Tuesday at Bond University on the Gold Coast.
https://twitter.com/StanSportRugby/status/1522501802473758720?s=20&t=RJEhcrkmYAn4bE5nI87zNw
Japan have already beaten Fiji and an Australian Barbarians side on tour Down Under.
It had been 956 days since the Wallaroos last played a Test in 2019.
They are preparing for the World Cup in New Zealand in October.
Wallaroos 36 (Murphy, Piliae, Patu, Marsters, Parry tries; penalty try; Cramer 2 con) Fiji 19 (Matarugu 2, Wilson tries; Naikore 2 con)