Wallaroos target unbeaten England with nothing-to-lose mindset at WXV opener

Australia’s Wallaroos open their WXV Global Series campaign against an England side that has not lost since the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup final, with record-setting winger Desiree Miller insisting the Australians can approach the match at Manchester’s CorpAcq Stadium free of pressure.

England were beaten by New Zealand at Eden Park in 2022 but have been undefeated since, winning the World Cup on home soil last year and following it up with further Six Nations success. Miller acknowledges the Red Roses are the benchmark in women’s 15s rugby right now, but argues that status comes with its own burden.

“They’re the powerhouse and the gold standard in women’s 15s at the moment, haven’t lost since the [2022] World Cup,” Miller told reporters. “While that’s a great achievement, it’s also a lot of pressure on them. We have nothing to lose.”

The Wallaroos arrive in the UK having suffered a one-sided defeat to the Black Ferns in Auckland last month, but Miller pointed to their performance against England at last year’s World Cup — where Australia led after roughly 30 minutes before the Red Roses fought back — as evidence that an upset is within reach.

“We’ve reflected on the game a little bit already and those first 30 minutes were definitely positive. I think it just gives us a bit of confidence that it is achievable,” she said. “With the prep that we’ve done, with the review that we’ve done, there’s a lot of tools that we can use to pick apart their game.”

The match will be played at CorpAcq Stadium, a venue the Wallaroos used during their 2025 World Cup campaign but one England have never played at, with the Red Roses having taken recent home fixtures to London or Bristol.

Australia’s season has been fragmented, split around the Super Rugby Women’s competition. The Pacific Four Series was played in consecutive weeks earlier in the year before players returned to their clubs. The NSW Waratahs secured a third consecutive Super Rugby Women’s title before falling 24-17 to the Blues in the Championship Final at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval. Several of those club players then linked up with their national squads, with the Black Ferns running out convincing winners three weeks later.

Miller said that defeat has sharpened the Wallaroos’ focus heading into the WXV campaign, with a squad bolstered by the return of some high-profile names. “I’m really confident in what we’ve prepared,” she added. “If we just can do it together, it will yield a really positive result.”