Wallaroos lament execution issues as Codey, Stewart ruled out of France clash

Mon, Oct 23, 2023, 5:48 PM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson
The Wallaroos will look to rebound against France. Photo: Getty Images
The Wallaroos will look to rebound against France. Photo: Getty Images

The Wallaroos are looking to quickly fix up their attacking efficiency as they prepare to face a red-hot French side without stars Maya Stewart and Annabelle Codey.

The Australians went down to England 42-7 to begin their WXV campaign in Wellington, let down by an inability to convert their chances.

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Jay Tregonning's side managed nine entries into England's 22, scoring just once whilst seven ended in turnovers.

Comparatively, the Red Roses scored tries from six of their ten entries.

“We started to make inroads against them but our execution let us down,” Tregonning said after the match.

“We felt like we left plenty of points out there. England was great in taking advantage of our lost ball, there were a number of times when we were inside their 22 and within a minute, we ended up back inside our 22.

“There are definitely things we can improve in heading into the next two games.”

It doesn't get much easier, with France coming off a major upset against hosts New Zealand.

The Wallaroos will already be without Stewart and Codey, both ruled out ahead of Saturday's Test in Dunedin.

Speedstar Stewart was forced off the field with a concussion, currently going through return-to-play protocols whilst Codey was sent off for a pair of high tackles.

The Reds second-row was cited by World Rugby, who reduced her ban to a game, leaving her available to feature in the final round against Wales.

It led to the Australians without their full allotment of players for 30 minutes of the defeat, with Tregonning taking the positives out of the fight shown late in the game.

“We’ve been talking about fight and staying in the fight and fighting back when things don’t go our way," he added.

“We really stood to that in the end with 30 minutes with 14 players so to still be attacking at the end…if we’d scored at the end it would’ve been 14-all for the (second) half staying in the fight and fighting back was really positive.”

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