Olympic gold and multiple World Sevens Series titles give Shannon Parry a fair barometer on what makes a special team. She likes what's developed in the Wallaroos.
Parry and the Wallaroos are well aware of the situation that presents them on Saturday.
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They enter as near-unbackable favourites according to certain oddsmakers, needing victory to keep their knockout dreams alive.
Despite a string of seven straight defeats, Parry remains confident the team is on the right path as they embrace the chance to shine on the biggest stage.
“There’s something really special about this group and I think that goes way back to the start of the year,” Parry told reporters.
“We’ve really looked at our identity and what it takes to be a Wallaroo and what that means to each individual and why we are here. We’ve done a lot of work into our heritage, tapping into it and that’s really brought everyone together which is exciting.
“We have a really good culture and we’ve been coached really well, we have a good gameplan that we need to execute well this weekend.
“We’re here to compete. There’s no pressure on us, it’s only what we put on ourselves. We know what we need to do as a team and squad. For us, it’s about embracing the fantastic opportunity we have got to represent our country.”
It flips the narrative from last week, with the Wallaroos stressing there was little pressure on them to perform against a Black Ferns team expected to waltz in and dominate.
However, the stunning opening 30 minutes showed what they can do if they take their expansive style of football to the opposition.
It breads a different type of pressure, which assistant coach Sione Fukofuka was treating as a 'privilege' after spending the past six games as outsiders.
“Pressure is a privilege,” he believes.
“The fact we’re in this position is a privilege and for us it’s about controlling those controllables.
“We felt really confident against New Zealand that we could express ourselves and take opportunities which we did. We now get to do that in a position of strength where we’ve got a good 50 minutes of positive Rugby under our belts and it’s about building on that and putting pressure on Scotland.”
