There is a former England internationalist heading up Australia’s bid to defeat Scotland on Saturday and win the WXV 2 title.
Jo Yapp had a stellar playing career – earning 70 caps for the Red Roses, playing in multiple Rugby World Cups and captaining her country – and her coaching journey is going well so far too.
She has experience from various different environments and was coaching numerous Scotland squad members at Worcester Warriors until the English top flight club folded unfortunately last year.
Yapp has been head coach of the Wallaroos since late 2023 and things with the group have built up nicely since then to two bonus point wins over Wales [37-5] and South Africa [33-26] out in Cape Town so far.
Next up is Scotland in the big one and Yapp said: “Our performances over the past fortnight have been positive, but we’ll need to go to another level against Scotland this weekend.
“I know a lot of the Scottish girls from my time in the PWR and they are really organised group who have gone from strength-to-strength over the last couple of years.
“We have seen that with the results they have had on the field and they just have a huge amount of experience. They have a lot of players over 50 caps now and it is a pretty settled team that they have got so we know that they are organised and that they like to move the ball.
“It has been strange time out here because there are around 12 players from the different nations that are here at WXV 2 that I worked with at Worcester and it is lovely to se them all including the Scotland girls [such as Lana Skeldon, Evie Gallagher, Caity Mattinson and Lisa Cockburn].
“It is great to see them all doing well and that Worcester group was a special group.
“It has been a real whirlwind since I took on this role, but I have loved it and the squad has been building all the time.
“I was back and forth initially and we have had matches and tours all over the place while my family came out to Australia in July, but the players and staff have been super supportive.
“Most definitely these are the kind of big matches that you want to be involved in as players and coaches and it is a great opportunity for us to effectively play in a final because they don’t come round very often.
“I am looking forward to seeing how the girls respond and how they take that challenge on, it is going to be an exciting game for sure.”
Any win or draw for Australia would see them crowned champions, but Scotland and even, if a few things go their way, South Africa are still in the mix.
Props Sally Fuesaina and Alapeta Ngauamo return on the Australia bench for this one while back-row Ashley Marsters will become the most capped women’s player in Australian history when she makes appearance number 34 for the start for the seventh ranked team in the world. Marsters was sent off versus Scotland in 2022.
Michaela Leonard is the skipper from the second-row.
The Scotland-Australia game is at 4pm UK time on Saturday at the Athlone Sports Stadium and live on BBC iPlayer and RugbyPass TV
Scotland women’s matchday squad for the WXV 2 clash with Australia
15 Chloe Rollie (Ealing Trailfinders) (69)
14 Coreen Grant (Saracens) (13)
13 Emma Orr (Bristol Bears) (23)
12 Lisa Thomson (Ealing Trailfinders) (63)
11 Francesca McGhie (Leicester Tigers) (16)
10 Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning) (64)
9 Leia Brebner-Holden (Gloucester-Hartpury/Cheltenham Tigers) (4)
1 Leah Bartlett (Leicester Tigers) (37)
2 Lana Skelson (Bristol Bears) (73)
3 Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears) (14)
4 Eva Donaldson (Leicester Tigers) (14)
5 Sarah Bonar (Harlequins) (41)
6 Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning, C) (51)
7 Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier) (45)
8 Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears) (31)
Subs
16 Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning) (14)
17 Anne Young (Loughborough Lightning) (14)
18 Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning) (39)
19 Louise McMillan (Saracens) (57)
20 Jade Konkel (Harlequins) (65)
21 Caity Mattinson (Ealing Trailfinders) (26)
22 Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears) (21)
23 Lucia Scott (Hartpury University/Gloucester Hartpury) (3)
Jo Yapp, right, is pictured during a recent Zoom press conference, thanks to the Wallaroos
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