Lefau-Fakaosilea returns to Wallaroos after seven years for centenary Black Ferns Test

Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea will make her return to Wallaroos rugby this Saturday when Australia face the Black Ferns in Auckland, seven years after her last Test appearance in the XV-a-side format. The centenary fixture marks a significant milestone for both programmes and a personal one for the 25-year-old centre.

Leftau-Fakaosilea was a teenager when she first represented Australia at Test level, and in the years since she has built an impressive résumé with Australia Sevens, claiming gold at both the Rugby Sevens World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Now she is back in the longer format, and she says the camp environment has her energised.

“It’s been seven years so it’s good to be back in the 15-a-side game and get that opportunity to be playing this weekend hopefully,” she said. “There’s plenty of familiar faces and a few new ones as well — the girls here are amazing and the vibes are up.”

She is joined in the squad by fellow HSBC SVNS World Championship winners Maddison Levi, Bienne Terita and Tia Hinds, adding a cluster of sevens-honed pace and skill to an evolving Wallaroos group. Michaela Leonard and Emily Chancellor are among the familiar faces who remain from Lefau-Fakaosilea’s last O’Reilly Cup outing.

The squad is being led by Tim Walsh, the Australia Sevens architect who has since been appointed Women’s Performance Director. Walsh has been tasked with transforming the ninth-ranked nation into a full-time professional programme and managing the pipeline of players between the XVs and sevens set-ups. Inbound head coach Sione Fukofuka is not due to take charge until the start of 2027.

Australia have yet to beat New Zealand in this fixture, but Lefau-Fakaosilea believes the current group has the tools to change that narrative. “We haven’t beaten the Black Ferns but seeing the talent in the group, the trainings that we’ve had, I think once we match them, then it will be pretty exciting,” she said. “Having Maddi Levi and ‘BB’ [Terita] back into the 15s — the girls have been dominating a lot, especially the forwards.”