Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard was taken aback by the support shown by Springboks hero Siya Kolisi as they prepared to face South Africa in Cape Town.
Kolisi is a national icon after the Springboks' back-to-back World Cup success and took to Instagram to praise the Wallaroos ahead of the match-up with the hosts.
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The flanker took to his social media to hype up the match between the two sides to his 1.4 million followers, singling out winger Maya Stewart and prop Eva Karpani.
"Australia is a strong team led by their captain Michael Leonard and with Eva Kaprani up front, where we saw what she could do on the weekend," he said.
"Maya Stewart, what she did on the weekend (was amazing). The pace, sidestep, power, they've got everything."
Leonard recognises the impact of having people like Kolisi as advocates as they look to grow the women's game.
"It's a cliche but you can't be what you can see and I think part of the fight and battle is getting people watching and involved, cheering in the stands...It's huge," she said.
"For someone like Siya with his platform in Rugby and in the world to come out and promote the game, acknowledge the strength and talents we have like Maya and Eva, it's pretty special and speaks a lot.
"The more we can have people in positions like that advocating for our game, it gives a little bit more awareness that we might catch and hopefully will get someone to advocate on their own and be excited to be part of the journey as well."
Her South African counterpart Lusanda Dumke shared this thought as they continue their own path of growth as a full-time squad.
“It is great. Siya is one of the leading voices in the game and his genuine support for us is brilliant,” she said.
“To have him in the stands while we play will be massive and hopefully will bring more people to come and support us at the stadium.
"It is just so great to have such a good advocate for our game, but that shifts the responsibility to us to deliver on the expectations.”
