‘That’s not who we are’: Wallaroos star reacts to ‘upsetting’ Wales defeat

Wallaroos winger Desiree Miller hasn’t held back when reflecting on last weekend’s “upsetting” 12-21 defeat to Wales in Brisbane, describing the historically-unwanted result as an unacceptable performance.

With the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England kicking off next month, the Wallaroos only have one more warm-up match before making the trip up north. Australia are hosting Wales in two Test matches, but the first clash didn’t go to plan for the hosts.

Annabelle Codey may have opened the scoring for the Wallaroos in the eighth minute, but a 35-minute lightning delay brought a halt to the Test soon after. Once play resumed, it didn’t take long for Wales to take over, scoring 14 unanswered points.

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Nel Metcalfe crossed for a first-half double as the visitors raced out to a 14-7 lead, but the hosts had the final say of the half as backrower Tabua Tuinakauvadra crossed just before the break. With the conversion missing the mark, the Wallaroos went into the sheds down by two.

Hannah Jones extended Wales’ advantage early in the second, but the Wallaroos had plenty of opportunities to strike back. In tough conditions, multiple errors cost the Wallaroos in point-scoring positions, as Wales hung on for their first-ever win on Australian soil.

“It was, no lie, pretty tough to watch and it definitely doesn’t reflect what we’ve been working on the last few months, particularly the last month,” Miller told reporters this week.

“It’s just upsetting to see that we couldn’t put out on the field what we’ve been working so hard for.

“Fortunately enough we have this next round verse Wales again to kind of rectify that and produce a result we’re happy with and build some confidence, especially leading into the World Cup in a couple weeks.”

That was the Wallaroos’ second-ever loss to the Welsh, having suffered their maiden defeat in 2024 ahead of WXV 2. Australia suffered a seven-point loss before claiming some revenge at WXV 2 in South Africa, recording a dominant 37-5 triumph.

The Wallaroos will look to repeat history on Friday night, hoping to bounce back from a defeat with an inspired performance against the Welsh. While last year’s results haven’t been spoken about directly, it can still be used as motivation as the week progresses.

“We haven’t spoken [about] it too much over the last 48 hours,” Miller explained.

“I guess we can look back on last year and see that we can do it.

“It’s something that we can definitely focus on in the days leading up but like I said, it wasn’t acceptable what we produced and we’re looking to rectify that and produce a better result because that’s not who we are.”

In their final match before the Women’s Rugby World Cup, the Wallaroos will take on Wales at North Sydney Oval on Friday evening. 25 hours later, the Wallabies host the British & Irish Lions at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in the final Test of their series.