Beaten Wallaroos still eye top four spot
TOP four is still the goal for the Wallaroos depside narrowly losing their opening Women’s Rugby World Cup match to Ireland yesterday.
It was a spirited performance from the Aussie underdogs who went down by just two points 19- 17, but they are now faced with a huge task to qualify for semi- finals.
The top nations from each of the three pools automatically progress with the fourth position filled by the ‘ next best’ finisher.
Australia have to play France and then Japan and will need big wins in each to have a shot at qualifying. France defeated Japan 72- 14 in their opening game and sit top of Pool C after the first round.
Australia captain Shannon Parry said they knew they had a harder path now but they were still confident they could go home having achieved their top four goal.
“For us it was top four finish and to be honest that’s not out of reach yet,” Parry said.
“We’ve got a huge game against France in a couple of nights. If we can win there and a couple of results go our way anything is possible.
“We’re four.”
It has been a rapid rise for the Aussie women, who just 10 months ago had a record loss to New Zealand when they were demolished 67- 3 during a two- Test tour.
But they reined in that score next up for a 29- 3 result and found more points in themselves during the Quad Series tournament in June. still aiming at top