Wallaroos 73 – Samoa 0
The Wallaroos have started their Rugby World Cup campaign in emphatic style with a dominant 73 – 0 win against Samoa on Saturday night in Salford.
The win is Australia’s biggest ever at a World Cup, eclipsing their 62–0 triumph over South Africa in 2010. Eleven tries and a defensive shutout underlined a ruthless performance that puts the Wallaroos at the top of their pool on points differential.
The green and gold wasted no time in stamping their authority, with Katalina Amosa opening the scoring in just the second minute. From there, the Wallaroos attack was relentless producing seven tries in the first 33 minutes.
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp applauded her sides ability to play with intention and determination from the opening whistle.
“I just thought from the start of the game where we executed our set piece like our lineout and maul, I just thought that gave us a really strong platform for the rest of the game,” she said.
Waratah winger Desiree Miller was the star of the first half, completing a hat-trick inside an impressive half an hour with her incisive running leaving Samoa scrambling. But her night ended prematurely after suffering a head high tackle in the final 10 minutes of the game that saw Samoa’s Melina Grace Salale sent off with a red card. Miller will be monitored over coming days to see if she will be fit for their next match against USA.
The Wallaroos’ commanding scoreline wasn’t the only milestone of the night as 18-year-old fullback Caitlyn Halse became the youngest ever Wallaroo to play at a World Cup. However, Halse didn’t stop there, the young gun scored a double on the night with her second try sealing the historic win for her team.
Up front, Eva Karpani delivered a complete performance, scoring a try and producing a thumping defensive stop that halted one of Samoa’s best attacking opportunities. Faliki Pohiva also had one of her finest outings in the Australian jersey, while Adiana Talaki, Eily Chancellor, and Katalina Amosa were among the other try scorers.
Samoa came out … and they were really battering our try line for some time and the girls kept stepping up.
Despite the scoreline, Samoa showed grit, particularly in the second half when they camped on Australia’s line for extended periods. But the Wallaroos’ wall of defence never cracked.
In the post match press conference Yapp praised her side’s defensive performance.
“Samoa came out especially in that second half really strong and they were really battering our try line for some time and the girls kept stepping up,” she said.
“When it’s a bigger scoreline, it would be easy just to let tries in, but the girls didn’t do that.”
Player of the match, inside centre Cecilia Smith, combined with fly half Faitala Moleka on several occasions to break through Samoa’s line and found herself over the line in the 52nd minute.
The record-breaking victory is more than just a confidence boost—it sets a marker for the Wallaroos’ World Cup campaign and showcases the squad’s depth, with try scorers spread across both backs and forwards. However, despite their clinical performance, the Wallaroos will need to tidy up their discipline for their future pool games if they are to have a chance at the knockout stage after conceding seven penalties in their own half.
The Wallaroos now look toward their Sunday morning fixture against the USA, who were outclassed 69–7 by tournament favourites England. Wallaroo captain Emily Chancellor stressed the need to stay sharp.
“As long as we execute our game plan, we’ll be in a good position. But (the USA) had some heart out there, they had some ticker, and I think we need to be ready for a pretty physical game again,” she said.
Main image supplied.
