Australia Women

North Sydney Oval holds around 20,000 people, though the Wallaroos rarely settle there for long.

The team took its name from Wallaroo FC, Australia's first rugby club, when the Australian Women's Rugby Union formed in 1993. It took another year to arrange a first test, a 0-37 defeat to New Zealand at North Sydney Oval, and the Black Ferns have set the terms of the rivalry since, the two sides now meeting for the Laurie O'Reilly Cup. Test matches dried up entirely between 2013 and 2016.

The high point of that rebuild remains 2010, when a 22-8 win over France at The Stoop secured third place at the World Cup in England — still the best finish in the team's history. The results showed under his successor, Joanne Yapp: an unbeaten run through the WXV 2 division in 2024 gave the Wallaroos their first major title and, with it, promotion and a place at the 2025 World Cup.

Ashley Marsters has won more caps than anyone to wear the gold and green, 45 of them. With qualification for next year's World Cup secured and Australia already confirmed to host in 2029, the Wallaroos head into the coming season with rather more to play for than the team that lost its first test by 37 points.