Wallaroos vice captain Trilleen Pomare is energised by the chance to bring home the WXV 2 title as they face Scotland on Sunday (AEDT) in Cape Town.
The Wallaroos find themselves with the rare opportunity to take out silverware outside of the O’Reilly Cup after back-to-back wins against South Africa and Japan.
Watch the Wallaroos tackle Scotland to decide WXV 2 live and exclusively on Stan Sport.
The nuances of the WXV 2 draw ensure the final match of the competition against Scotland will decide the winner with third-place South Africa sitting three points behind the Australians.
“These are the kind of games you want to be involved in after all that building and it's a great opportunity for us,” coach Jo Yapp said.
“We're ultimately in a final and they don't come around very often so to see how the girls respond and take that challenge on is an exciting one.”
Pomare shared the excitement after a five-week end-of-season tour that started with defeats to Ireland and Wales before they turned it around in South Africa.
“I think five test matches all in a row for us is something we haven't had and being in a position now at the back end of our tour with the opportunity to take home some silverware is new for us so it’s super special," she told reporters.
“We all bought into our values on and off the field and it's really shown in our footy that we've been able to string together. We've just got one more to get but hopefully, if we do our job and we do our process right, I think we put ourselves in a good position to win this last game.”
The match and tour is the perfect preparation for next year’s World Cup as the Wallaroos get used to the physical and emotional rigours of five straight games in a row.
The pools will be decided on October 17 (local time) before the complete draw is unveiled five days later.
Regardless of the results, Australia will officially qualify for the Rugby World Cup at the end of WXV and sit in Band Two due to their world ranking.
“I think it's much more like a sprint than a marathon these short (tournaments) so any error or mental fatigue can really cost you the comp,” Pomare said on the benefits of WXV 2 and their European tour.
“I think the five weeks have shown us how mentally switched on we have to be and how consistently we have to perform. Any lapse in those judgments and decision-making on the field can cause us test matches.
“Jo's been pretty good at trying to build our depth in that department as well as our game management and our IQ around the field.”
