Predictions: Jo Yapp’s upcoming Wallaroo squad must address four key issues

The Super Rugby Women’s season comes to an end this weekend, and with it, the eyes on the women’s game will shift to the lengthy international season.

The inaugural Super Rugby Champions Final will round off the domestic season for good next Thursday – where the winner of Super Rugby Women’s and Super Rugby Aupiki will do battle – but the amount of games the Wallaroos will experience is set to be more than ever in 2025.

Things will get underway quickly following the Champions Final – Jo Yapp’s team will commence their season on May 3rd with a trip to Suva to face Fiji – before the side hosts the Pacific Four series against New Zealand, the US and Canada.

Following an additional Black Ferns Test match and a July series against Wales, the side will commence their World Cup campaign in the Rugby World Cup pool of death, kicking off against Samoa in Manchester.

SEE FULL WALLAROOS FIXTURE LISTS

Jo Yapp has a lot of work to do with this side, with 2024 exposing several key issues around the Wallaroos that have existed for a long time – namely defence, physicality, depth, and moments where execution and strategy let the side down, with the latter coming through in three back-to-back losses to the Black Ferns, Ireland and Wales.

However, the WXV 2 title victory in South Africa suggested that a corner was turned – a brutal deconstruction of Wales and two takedowns of big improvers Wales and South Africa showed buy in, promise, and went a long way to suggest that 2025 will be a year of better results.

Well, 2025 is here, and that progression has continued, with the competition characterised by a notable uptick in physicality, tense, close-fought clashes, and critically, depth options emerging across the four Australian sides. While the Rebels loss remains a major blemish on the year, the Wallaroos enter 2025 with the best depth they’ve ever had – both in exciting finds within the competition, and in the timely arrival of Sevens stars into the program.

So, how will Jo Yapp pick her squad? What are the key options available for her and her coaching staff?

*denotes uncapped

Props

Loosehead Props: Bree-Anna Browne, Sally Fuesaina, Alapeta Ngauamo, Allana Sikimeti, Emily Robinson

Tighthead Props: Eva Karpani, Faliki Pohiva*, Bridie O’Gorman, Lydia Kavoa, Martha Fua*

Yapp has several challenges when it comes to selecting what her front row will look like, and whether to stick with combinations or go for sheer firepower. The Queensland front row has been the most consistent, and while Eva Karpani is frequently celebrated, the options of Bree-Anna Browne, as well as US Eagle Cahrli Jacoby and Fijian Jiowana Sauto have also contributed.

At loosehead, several incumbent Wallaroos have continued their form – the big excitement comes at tighthead with the arrival of Faliki Pohiva, who has the makings of becoming a ruthless bench player. While Bridie O’Gorman doesn’t have the flash or strength of Karpani and Pohiva – and has been shown up at the international level on occasion – her 22 caps and ability to play on either side of the scrum will come in handy.

For the best time in sport and racing, TAB has the best app in sport and racing. Download the TAB app. TAB, We’re On. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.

Hookers

Ashley Marsters, Tiarna Molloy, Tania Naden, Adiana Talakai, Hera-Barb Malcolm Heke

The 2025 season has really one of the options for the Wallaroos coach, and no more is this the case than at hooker. There have been some promising newcomers, such as Millie Parker at the Waratahs and Ella Hopper at the Brumbies, but with a World Cup only a few months away Yapp is likely to stick with a settled unit, where the option is the case.

Fortunately, when it comes to the physical battle the hookers have been among the players leading from the front, with Ashley Marsters likely the front-runner over Tiarna Molloy due to her experience – assuming Yapp has plans to bring other players into the loose forwards. In saying that, Tania Naden also has plenty of experience and brought much of that to South Africa, the fact three decent options are knocking on the door of the starting side would be something Yapp considers.

Locks

Michaela Leonard, Kaitlan Leaney, Tiarah Minns, Ashley Fernandez*, Annabelle Codey, Lily Bone*, Pia Tapsell

Losing Atasi Lafai for the year is a massive loss for the engine room, but what’s great for the Wallaroos is that not only are there young talents here to supplement that – including the likes of Brumbies Ashley Fernandez and Lily Bone, both of whom have been standouts in the capital, it’s also that leaders are emerging from here too.

Michaela Leonard will likely remain captain, so it’s really a matter of how the support best works with her. The starting running mate is a toss-up between the more experienced Kaitlan Leaney, and the younger but exciting prospect of Tiarah Minns, who has looked stellar for the Reds this year.

Flankers

Flankers: Emily Chancellor, Siokapesi Palu, Leilani Nathan, Jemma Bemrose*, Tamika Jones*, Pia Tapsell, Isabella Nasser

Number Eight: Ashley Marsters, Piper Duck, Tabua Tuinakauvadra, Lydia Kavoa, Sarah Riordan

If there is any position where Australia is really starting to build options in the loose forwards – and there is no further indication of the talent of these players than the fact the likes of Ashley Marsters and Pia Tapsell can also jump into other roles in the set piece.

There are several injury question marks around the likes of Piper Duck, Sarah Riordan and Jemma Bemrose, but should they make it to the first Wallaroo camp the options available for the side are considerable – Bemrose is a particular standout, the Reds co-captain has impressed during the season and looms as a when-not-if she makes her debut in gold.

Halves

Scrum-half: Layne Morgan, Natalie Wright, Georgia Cormick, Tatum Bird*, Jay Huriwai, Ella Ryan*

Flyhalf: Arabella McKenzie, Faitala Moleka, Lori Cramer, Carys Dallinger, Grace Freeman*

The halves open up a few more questions, with Layne Morgan the likely front-runner for the starting scrumhalf position. Natalie Wright and Georgia Cormick will likely be contenders to follow behind the incumbent Red scrumhalf.

Flyhalf however, is a much more interesting race. While Arabella McKenzie is the most experienced option, Faitala Moleka has continued her strong from South Africa to ask a lot of questions as to how the side will play. The experiment of moving Lori Cramer to flyhalf has proven to have more legs than the Reds have been given credit for – which does leave Carys Dallinger looking to try and press her case from the bench.

In short, flyhalf has been one of the positions where several options have presented themselves for Yapp – which is a welcome headache compared to this time twelve months ago.

Centres

Inside Centre: Trilleen Pomare, Shalom Sauaso*, Katrina Barker*

Outside Centre: Georgina Friedrichs, Cecilia Smith, Teagan Levi*, Gabrielle Petersen*, Faythe Manera*

Of all the positions in the national women’s side, the centre really is one that has a lot of question marks still around it. In 2024, Yapp did settle on three solid options in Friedrichs, Pomare and Smith, and is likely to stick with them given their experience.

However, if the options question does come, this is where things are looking the most inflexible – though that isn’t to say there aren’t opportunities. When it comes to breakout years, Shalom Sauaso is likely going to be included in the Wallaroo extended squad – her form could likely see her go toe-to-toe with Pohiva for the breakout player of the season – and presents a good option at inside centre that is sorely needed.

Whether the Teagan Levi experiment is revisited remains to be seen – there is no denying the talent the Levi sisters possess in the Sevens game, and could that be effectively translated, a running inside centre with an excellent offload game will do a lot for Australia’s attack capabilities.

While the options are solid in the centres, should players go down, depth will be tested.

Back Three

Wingers: Maya Stewart, Desiree Miller, Ivania Wong, Biola Dawa, Bienne Terita, Caitlin Urwin*

Fullback: Lori Cramer, Charlotte Caslick*, Caitlyn Halse, Tia Hinds*, Waiaria Ellis*, Sheree Hume*

Finally, the options in back three have been a major success for the Wallaroos since the end of the last World Cup. However, Yapp has to consider one key element – being the kicking game.

Stewart and Miller will likely be frontrunners coming into the international season, with Wong and Dawa serving as valuable cover for them, but if the kicking game becomes an issue, it nullifies Australia’s most potent attacking weapons. Lori Cramer will likely become a valuable utility back off her time in flyhalf, but her and Halse have the better kicking game, while Caslick has brought her strong running game over from Sevens to great effect.

If Caslick can improve her kicking game, it changes the dynamic of who fills in at fullback. Given her talents she is almost certainly going to be included and her first Tests in gold will be critical. If she fires, it supercharges one of the key successes of Jo Yapp’s tenure so far – the attack.

If the Wallaroos can become a side that can seemingly score from anywhere, they can become a team that instead of hanging out on the fringes of the top world rankings behind the usual suspects of Canada, England, New Zealand and France, actually start to ask significant questions of them.

It’s the right problem to have for Jo Yapp – and even more so for the Wallaroos’ growing support base.