Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp is calling on the two most experienced players in program history to harness all their experience in the final moments of Sunday’s quarter-final against Canada.
Yapp has named Ash Marsters and Trilleen Pomare to come off the bench for the must-win game in Bristol.
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Marsters (44 games) and Pomare (42 games) have been to six World Cups combined, with the former England scrum half looking to draw on this experience.
“I think for us having experience come off the bench and you know it's a quarterfinal and it's a do or die game isn't it, so we want to ensure that we have got experienced players on the field to finish those games,” Yapp said to reporters.
“Both are real energy drivers for us, like Ash in particular is somebody you go to to bring the energy, so having her on the field in the latter stages is important.”
The Wallaroos have made two further tweaks to their finishing group as hooker Katalina Amosa and lock Ash Fernandez return to the 23.
It comes after the Wallaroos were left lamenting their second-half struggles after a promising start against England.
The side led for the majority of the first half, but lapses saw the scoreline blow out to 47-7 in Brighton.
Yapp was eager for the side to have no regrets in what could be her last game in charge, announcing her intentions to remain in England post-World Cup.
“From our perspective, it is [about] don't come off the field thinking ifs, buts and maybes, like we get one shot at this so we've got to be brave and we've got to go at them both in attack and defence,” Yapp explained.
“I don't think we always see it on the field because they are still quite a young group so sometimes we do lose our way a little bit and then we come back, but for us the progress that we've seen especially in and around our training and how they conduct themselves as athletes and how they look after themselves, that's been really impressive.
“It’s set them up in a really good way post this [World Cup] because you can see the time that they've had together in the camps and the connection time has really made a big difference and that obviously needs to continue.”
