5 August 2025
Good morning G&GRs and welcome to another Tuesday news, and what a difference a week makes. The Wallabies turned some good 40 minute performances into an 80 minute (or even 110 minute) effort to win the third test against the British & Irish Lions. If you’re looking to recap the third test, you can read Hoss’s excellent match report here, and if you missed Keith’s brilliant summary of the Lions tour from a soap dodgers perspective, you can catch it here.
Now that the Lions tour has finished we can reflect on the performance of the Wallabies players in the third test, and the series, with player ratings, which are a lot more fun to do when the Wallabies have had a good victory.
Before we get into that though, a little bit of news from around the grounds including the Wallaroos.
Sheehan Cited and Suspended
Nathan Williamson has reported on rugby.com.au that Dan Sheehan was cited to appear before a disciplinary committee for his cleanout on Lynagh. Sheehan entered a plea of nothing to see here and pleased not guilty, and that he didn’t believe there was foul play. News out late Monday night is that Sheehan copped a 3 game suspension.
Wallaroos off to the World Cup in style
The Wallaroos are off to World Cup in England, and have named a squad with plenty of experience together with some new players to take on the best in the world. Seventeen of the 32 player squad were at the last World Cup in New Zealand, and of the 15 World Cup debutantes there’s one uncapped player in squad, Caitlin Urwin, from the Reds. A couple of key players, Siokapesi Palu, and Charlotte Caslick, have been named in the squad while still recovering from injury, but both are forecast to be fit for the opening game, or the must-win game against the USA.
WALLAROOS 2025 WORLD CUP SQUAD
(Name, age, club, junior club, caps)
Katalina Amosa (23, ACT Brumbies, Southern Districts, 6 caps)*
Bree-Anna Browne (28, Queensland Reds, Brothers Rugby, 13 caps)
Charlotte Caslick (30, Queensland Reds, Wests Bulldogs, 5 caps)*
Emily Chancellor (33, NSW Waratahs, Sydney University, 30 caps)
Annabelle Codey (28, NSW Waratahs, Easts Brisbane, 7 caps)*
Lori Cramer (32, Queensland Reds, University of Queensland, 30 caps)
Piper Duck (24, NSW Waratahs, Tumut Bullettes, 18 caps)
Waiaria Ellis (17, NSW Waratahs, Blacktown Scorpions, 3 caps)*
Ashley Fernandez (22, ACT Brumbies, Uni-North Owls, 4 caps)*
Georgina Friedrichs (30, NSW Waratahs, Wests Bulldogs, 34 caps)
Caitlyn Halse (18, NSW Waratahs, Camden Rams, 11 caps)*
Tia Hinds (22, ACT Brumbies, Randwick, 6 caps)*
Brianna Hoy (25, NSW Waratahs, Coffs Harbour Snappers, 8 caps)*
Asoiva Karpani (29, Queensland Reds, Southern Suburbs, 37 caps)
Lydia Kavoa (31, ACT Brumbies, Eastern Suburbs, 9 caps)*
Kaitlan Leaney (24, NSW Waratahs, SCU Marlins, 31 caps)
Michaela Leonard (30, Western Force, Tuggeranong Vikings, 38 caps)
Ashley Marsters (31, Western Force, Boroondara, 41 caps)
Desiree Miller (23, NSW Waratahs, Eastern Suburbs, 19 caps)*
Faitala Moleka (20, ACT Brumbies, Blacktown Scorpions, 21 caps)*
Layne Morgan (26, Queensland Reds, Merewether Carlton, 36 caps)
Tania Naden (33, ACT Brumbies, Uni-North Owls, 25 caps)
Bridie O’Gorman (26, NSW Waratahs, Sydney University, 33 caps)
Siokapesi Palu (28, ACT Brumbies, Uni-North Owls, 21 caps)
Faliki Pohiva (23, NSW Waratahs, Blacktown Scorpions, 4 caps)*
Trilleen Pomare (32, Western Force, Wanneroo, 40 caps)
Cecilia Smith (31, Western Force, Leeton Dianas, 24 caps)
Maya Stewart (25, NSW Waratahs, Nelson Bay Gropers, 18 caps)
Adiana Talakai (26, NSW Waratahs, Sydney University, 18 caps)
Tabua Tuinakauvadra (22, ACT Brumbies, Orange Emus, 18 caps)*
Caitlin Urwin (25, Queensland Reds, Gympie Hammers, uncapped)**
Samantha Wood (21, Western Force, Kalamunda Rugby, 7 caps)*
*denotes World Cup debutante
**denotes uncapped and World Cup debutante
Wallaroos World Cup
The Wallaroos pool matches at the World Cup are:
Saturday, 23 August: Samoa, Salford Community Stadium, Manchester – 9:00pm AEST
Sunday, 31 August: USA at York Community Stadium, York – 4:30am AEST
Sunday, 7 September: England at Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium, Brighton and Hove – 2:00am AEST
The Wallaroos will be looking to carry on their winning form from the Wales match and the most recent victory against the USA. If the Wallaroos can play to their potential and get wins against Samoa and the USA, they’ll make it into the finals and anything could happen. So, from us at G&GR, congratulations to the players for making the World Cup squad, and go well in the UK.
Wallabies Player Ratings – Third Test
What a difference a week makes, and even more so two weeks after the first test. The Wallabies have put in one of the best team performances since we beat the Springboks during COVID to end the Lions series on a high note. And not surprisingly, the Wallabies player ratings are more positive than the first two games.
just a reminder of the G&GR scoring system.
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Outstanding performance: Man of the match shoo-in
8 – Excellent all-round game
7 – Good game with a few sparkles
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average – a pass mark
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke
0 – Didn’t make it on, or no meaningful involvement
Wallabies v Lions – Test 3.
- James Slipper – Continues to deliver solid performances, and his durability is a testament to his professionalism and work ethic. Kept his side of the scrum up and made his hit ups and tackles. 6
- Billy Pollard – Part of a solid scrum and good in the lineout early. Played big minutes. 7
- Taniela Tupou – His best performance of the year, was involved defensively, very good in the scrum, and carried the ball with purpose. Unfortunately lost the handle on the ball with the fullback to beat. 6
- Nick Frost – A great game from Frost, good in the lineout, tackled well, chased high kicks with purpose and complemented Skelton. 8
- Will Skelton – In my view his best game in gold, and really got stuck into the Lions at every opportunity. 8
- Tom Hooper – Voted best on ground and deserved it. Strong in every part of the game and made 2 key turnovers in the first half. 9
- Fraser McReight – Was back towards his best, with turnovers, tackles, hit ups, and some linking play. 7
- Harry Wilson – The Wallabies captain was good again. Ignored the calls from around Australia to take the 3 points with 15 minutes to go. History will say it was the right decision as we kept the pressure on and scored a decisive try. 7
- Nic White -It might be his last test match and was one of his best. Excellent kicking, good passing, and wasn’t afraid to get stuck into the Lions players. 8
- 10. Tom Lynagh – Copped a high cleanout in the first half and failed his HIA. An assured performance during his time on the field, and I hope he makes a quick recovery and is fit to play South Africa. 6
- Dylan Pietsch – A few fans were calling for Pietsch to be included in earlier test matches. His finish for the first try including catching a rubbish pass from JAS was top shelf. A first half tackle led to a key turnover. 7
- Len Ikitau – Was Australia’s best back, carried the ball into contact fearlessly, made tackles, and led a more aggressive defensive line speed that really seemed to bother the Lions. 8
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – A better game than the previous two outings. His footwork and pace created the space for the Wallabies first try, but his no look pass almost blew it. Was defensively better than previous weeks. 6
- Max Jorgensen – At just 20 years young, and with 10 caps, Jorgensen made a massive impact on this game, his pick up and dash to the try line put Australia up by 15-0. 8
- Tom Wright – An improved performance and has established himself as our first choice fullback. He brought his kicking game into effect and took good options throughout the game. 7
- Brandon Paenga-Amosa – Made it onto the field at 72 minutes and did his part to secure victory. 5
- Angus Bell – Was on the field at 54 minutes and helped maintain a dominant scrum. 5
- Zane Nonggorr – Made it onto the field at 60 minutes and got the job done. 5
- Jeremy Williams – A massive game off the bench. In the space of 5 minutes, won a lineout steal on our line, and effected 2 key turnovers. 8
- Langi Gleeson – On for a 3 minute cameo in the 77th minute. 5
- Tate McDermott – Raised the pace and energy when he made if onto the field, and scored a great individual try . 8
- Ben Donaldson – Was on relatively early after Lynagh failed his HIA . Did the just the job that he needed to do. 6
- Andrew Kellaway – a short appearance near the end of the game. Hard to rate.
The general consensus is that the Springboks will pose a sterner challenge than the Lions, so let’s hope that the Wallabies can maintain that momentum and energy when they head to Ellis Park to take on the Springboks on 17 August. Go you good things.
As always G&GRs, thanks for reading this far, have a great day, and look forward to the comments.
