Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp is focused on maintaining the momentum built in 2024 as the battle for positions heats up.
Yapp named a 40-player squad for their camp before next week’s Fijiana Test and the Pacific Four.
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The coach was keen to maintain the squad's confidence after their WXV 2 success, their first title in team history.
“We can see the confidence that it built through WXV. This was a team that had never won three games on the bounce before," Yapp told reporters.
“They're such a talented group of players, and with confidence, you started to see what they could produce at WXV. As much as Pac 4 is about growth and connections, we've then got the opportunity to play an A game and then the two Wales Tests and I think that's when it becomes really critical that we go into the World Cup on the back of wins.”
To do this, Yapp knows the focus must be on building the side’s core skills.
She has already been in talks with Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt to pick his brain, whilst Andy Friend will continue his role in the squad after coaching the Brumbies Super Rugby W team this year.
“We can have the best systems in the world, but that individual tackle tech(nique), the ability to catch (and) pass under pressure...these are just the fundamentals," she stressed.
“It sounds really simple, but that's been our absolute big focus.
“…We can have all these amazing backs, but we've got to win the ball first. Sam (Needs), our forwards coach, has been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes and has already been having conversations with our lineout leaders previously.
“We're creating more depth around that front row. We've obviously got someone like Faliki (Pohiva) coming back in and got Bree (Anna-Browne) from Reds, who's returning.
“We've got more depth in that front row than we had this time last year with the players that have come through, which allows us to really train and put ourselves under more pressure in training situations as well.”
The squad will be whittled down to 30 before they fly to Suva, with a further six added to the wider squad for the Tests against New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
At this stage, the likes of Maddison Levi and Bella Nasser will be available for selection after the SVNS Grand Final in Los Angeles.
With 11 uncapped players named, Yapp was aware of the challenges faced with integrating a fresh bunch of players into a side coming off the back of a WXV 2 title.
However, she believes it’s had a positive effect on the group, whether they are selected or not.
“We've been really clear with the players throughout all of this, so they recognise that for us to be successful, we want to take the best players to the World Cup," she added.
“I think that's been seen as a real positive thing, and what it's done is...we've seen real growth in our girls, because the competition for places is there. We've seen real improvements in a lot of our backs in terms of their S&C scores and their broncos and all that kind of stuff.
“When there's competition for places, it pushes people.”
