Take your Back Row Seats for Week Two
- Sophie Norris
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
The Back Row Seats is TFAP's new weekly women's Rugby World Cup Podcast, running for the entire 2025 WRWC. The second episode is live, listen now on apple or spotify.
The Week That Was
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC) is officially underway in England, and fans are breaking attendance records off the field, while players are smashing records on the pitch.
There were 10,054 proud fans at Salford Community Stadium wearing jerseys from numerous nations to watch the Wallaroos beat Samoa 73-0.
Here are the other results from the opening round:
England 69 - 8 USA Scotland 38 - 8 Wales Canada 65 - 7 Fiji France 24 - 0 Italy Ireland 42 - 14 Japan South Africa 66 - 6 Brazil New Zealand 54 - 8 Spain
Fun fact: England's Ellie Kildunne was the only player to carry for more metres (153m) than the height of Big Ben (96m).
The Winning Wallaroos:
The Wallaroos recorded their highest ever win at a Rugby World Cup, with the 73-0 victory over Samoa pushing them past the previous high-scoring record set in 2010 against South Africa.
The Wallaroos ran in 11 tries from 12 entries into the 22m zone, while Samoa only managed nine entries inside their 22 with no success at scoring.
Horse & Bella's Standout Players:
Cecilia Smith:
In just her 25th Wallaroos Game and first-ever World Cup Start, Smith was named the official player of the match. She notched 13 carries, made 126 metres and topped it all off with a try.
“She’s quite small but she can really pack a punch that girl.” - Horse Robinson
Desiree Miller:
In her Rugby World Cup debut, Desi scored a first-half hat-trick, and carried the ball a total of 93 metres.
“It's good for the team to know they have strike weapons on both wings.” - Bella McKenzie
Len's Look: The Game Changing Moment of the Week
A pivotal moment came during the England v USA opener when Alev Kelter got yellow carded in the 27th minute with the game still in the balance the score was 14-7 to England.
What does a yellow card mean in Rugby Union?
In rugby, a yellow card means the player receives a temporary suspension for a serious infringement of the rules, typically foul play. The player must leave the field and spend 10 minutes in the sin bin. Their team must continue to play with one less player, as they are unable to replace the suspended player during this time
How did it change the game?
In the opening 25 minutes, most of the ascendency the USA had was coming off the back of some strong Alev Kelter carries. The USA never really recovered after she was sent off and it was all one-way traffic, with England scoring two key tries one before half time and one straight after.
“10 minutes either side of half-time is championship minutes. If you can score either side of half-time, you’re in a good way. So for England to score on either side of half-time and twice when Kelter was off was a big mistake.” - Horse Robinson
Alev Kelter was also yellow-cared and sent off during the Wallaroos match against USA earlier this year. Bella believes she will probably on watch with the referees now, and she really needs to stay disciplined if the Wallaroos have any chance of beating the USA this weekend.
Inside Wallaroos Camp: Meet Faliki Pohiva & Katalina Amosa
Faliki Pohiva Position: Prop Wallaroos Caps: 5 Junior Club: Blacktown Scorpions World Cups: England 2025 is her first Rugby World Cup Super W Club: NSW Waratahs | Katalina Amosa Position: Hooker Wallaroos Caps: 7 Junior Club: Southern Districts World Cups: England 2025 is her first Rugby World Cup Super W Club: ACT Brumbies |
Favourite moment from England so far?
Katalina: “It was so nice to be in an atmosphere of people genuinely enjoying rugby and there to support the girls." Faliki: "Random people coming up to us in the street and asking us if we play rugby, even the security guards."
How did Katalina find the game against Samoa?
"It's so cliché, but the scoreline didn't reflect the game. It was so physical, they were so direct in everything, and honestly, I think the biggest thing for us was still maintaining our game and not going away from the simple things.”
How is Faliki finding tour life without her daughter, Liliana?
“The time difference here is really annoying. But she’s the reason I keep pushing forward, it's for her that I’m doing this, and I’ll be back with her soon." How do they rate the breakfast buffet? "It's a seven out of ten .. but I think we're just hungry."
Listen to the Back Row Seats, out now: http://tr.ee/WNdF-9wGiM
Game Two: Wallaroos vs USA
WHEN: Sunday 31st August, 2025
WHERE: LNER Community Stadium, York
TIME: 4:30 AM AEST
HOW TO WATCH: Live & Free - Nine Now
WALLAROOS:
Ranked 7th
Last played at the 2022 World Cup Coming off a 73-0 Win
USA:
Ranked 9th
Last Played at the 2022 World Cup Coming off a 69-8 Loss
This game is big stakes for both teams, with the winner being the team who will likely also progress to the Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals.
“I think you’ve got to go with the same Wallaroos starting 15, it’s just the makeup of the bench that may change” - Bella McKenzie
Score last time they played: Australia defeated USA 27-19 (May 2025)
Horse & Bella's Prediction: The Wallaroos get the win if they can get the ball out the back more and shut down players like Hope Rogers & Ilona Maher.
Written by Sophie Norris
Sophie is the Content Producer here at the Female Athlete Project.
The [female] athlete project is Australia's fastest growing women's sports platform, spotlighting the stories and achievements of women in sport. Listen to the weekly podcast the wrap on apple or spotify, or sign up to our weekly newsletter here.
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