Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp is excited by the chance to play her old side in a potential tournament opener after the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup draw was revealed.
Yapp's side drew world number one and hosts England alongside the USA and Samoa in Pool A for next year's World Cup.
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“It is tough but one that’s got loads of opportunities and that we’re pretty excited about,” Yapp told reporters on Friday.
The former English scrumhalf went to three World Cups with the Red Roses, including captaining them in 2006.
Current England skipper Marlie Packer admitted the prospect of coming up against Yapp 'added to the magic of the fixture', which is potentially set to open the tournament on August 22 in Sunderland.
“It’s exciting to be playing England and to be playing a home nation in their home World Cup, I think that’s really exciting.
“We know that the crowds over in England are going to be huge and it’s going to be the biggest World Cup yet. All of that just adds to the excitement.
“…If we end up with England in the opening game, that’s huge, isn’t it? Opening a World Cup and an opportunity to play the home nation, the number one team.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on them and that’s a big opportunity for us.”
The Americans loom as the deciding game for the Wallaroos' quarter-final prospects.
The Eagles defeated the Wallaroos 32-25 in May but the Australians leapfrogged them on the rankings after their WXV 2 title, whereas the USA went winless in WXV 1.
“Pac Four was tough for us, wasn’t it? We had such little prep going into that,” Yapp reflected on their last encounter.
“As a squad, we’ve changed a lot over the last 10 months and we’ve got another 10 months now until the World Cup. As long as we keep the growth going like we are, we’re a pretty different team now than what we were 10 months ago."
