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Still no WA this year
Wallaroos selection on the line
July 05, 2007 - 8:17am
Story by: ARU
Australia’s top 200 female Rugby players will be competing for Wallaroos selection when the 2007 National Women’s Championships kicks off at Macquarie University in Sydney today.
The annual National Women’s Championship (previously the Australian Women’s Invitational Tournament) is contested over three days and brings together Australia’s best women’s representative rugby teams.
This years tournament will serve as the primary selection phase for the Australian Wallaroo squad that will tour New Zealand for twelve days in October. The tour will feature a warm up match against the Wellington Hurricanes and a two Test series against the current World Champion “Black Ferns”.
A 22 player squad and shadows will be announced following the Championship Final on Sunday.
The Wallaroos Squad will be put through an intensive training in the lead up to the New Zealand tour and will spend three days in camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen.
Wallaroos Head Coach Steve Hamson will head up the selection panel with fellow selectors Assistant Coach John Manenti and ARU Coach Education Manager Warren Robilliard.
Hamson says the selection panel has a tough job ahead of them and they’re expecting plenty of strong performances at the tournament.
“The Championships are a really important part of women’s rugby and it’s fair to say the players will be giving it all they’ve got.”
“We’ve had 45 players in training since the start of the year and we’ve been closely monitoring their fitness and skills development. It will definitely be a hard-fought competition.”
“Coming off the World Cup last year there is a lot of strength on the field and it’s great to see how far the game has come over the past twelve months. Every year it just gets better. We’re seeing higher quality of play for much longer periods.”
“The tournament is a great opportunity for anyone interested in playing the game to come down and have a look.”
The 2007 National Women’s Championship gets underway at Macquarie University in Sydney at 11:00am today (Thursday, 5 July). The public is welcome to attend all matches and entry is FREE.
2007 National Women’s Championship
Thursday 5th July, Friday 6th & Sunday 8th July 2007
University and Campbell Ovals, Macquarie University, Sydney
Teams & Seedings:
1. Queensland
2. Victoria
3. Sydney 1st XV
4. NSW Country
5. Sydney 2nd XV
6. Brumbies
7. National Indigenous
8. Australian Services