Rolling on: Wallaroos ready for maul battle after 2022 Scotland epic

Written by Nathan Williamson on Oct 09, 2024 05:48 PM, courtesy of rugby.com.au Source article.
Rolling on: Wallaroos ready for maul battle after 2022 Scotland epic
The Wallaroos face the Springboks in Round 2 of WXV2 at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.

The Wallaroos are preparing for a maul masterclass as they fight for the WXV 2 title against Scotland.

The competition has shaped Sunday’s (AEDT) final match in Cape Town of the three-round series as a title decider after Australia and Scotland swept through their first two games.

Watch the Wallaroos tackle Scotland to decide WXV 2 live and exclusively on Stan Sport.

Jo Yapp’s side holds a two-point advantage after bonus point wins over Wales and South Africa whilst Scotland were forced to fight for their victories over Italy and Japan.

The two sides will face off for the first time since their thrilling 2022 encounter at the World Cup in New Zealand.

On that day, the Wallaroos survived two red cards in the final six minutes to hold on for a 14-12 in Whangarei.

This came after two rolling maul tries to Scotland to take a 12-0 lead, with backrower Siokapesi Palu expecting a similar focus of attack.

“That game was tough. I remember on the sidelines it was a really close game,” Palu recalled.

“What it showed is similar to our South Africa game, the girls have a lot of heart here. Sometimes we can poorly execute things or we’re not disciplined enough but we show that heart and ticker to put on a good performance.

“…We’ve definitely as a forward pack looked into our maul defence but at the same time trying to work on our maul attack. We’re a good clinical set-piece team and if we just clean up our scrums and our lineouts, we can come away with those points.

“We’re definitely scoring tries on the edges but we’d love to get some forward maul tries.”

Discipline remains a key focus after conceding 12 penalties, including a yellow card early in the second half to Atasi Lafai.

“Discipline is a key focus for us this week, as well as the energy that we continue to build on from the last couple of weeks,” Palu added.

“We knew South Africa were going to come at us strong and we probably let our guards down a little bit in that second half.

“We know against a more clinical side like Scotland, we definitely have to make sure that we play for 80 minutes (and) seems to be a continuous pattern with us this year.

“…You could see the two disallowed tries shows that we definitely have it within us. It just comes with a little bit more control within our game management.”

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