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WXV 2: Scotland’s title defence ends in defeat to Australia
By PA
Scotland’s defence of their WXV 2 title ended in heartbreak after a 31-22 defeat to Australia in a winner-takes-all showdown in Cape Town.
Both sides went into their final match at the Athlone Sports Stadium with two wins under their belt, but Scotland ended the game with 13 players and Australia came out on top.
Irrespective of the result, Australia and Scotland both confirmed their places at Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 at the full-time whistle.
They joined Wales and Italy, who overcame South Africa 23-19 earlier on Saturday, in booking their tickets for next year's showpiece tournament in England from WXV 2.
Australia raced into a 21 -0 lead in the first 23 minutes with tries from Desiree Miller, Maya Stewart and Cecilia Smith, all converted by fly-half Faitala Moleka.
Scotland hit back after Australia centre Siokapesi Palu was given a yellow card for a high tackle and tries from prop Leah Bartlett and full-back Chloe Rollie, the former’s converted by Helen Nelson, reduced the deficit to 21-12 at the break.
The gap was cut to 21-17 early in the second period when Scotland prop Anne Young burrowed over for an unconverted try.
Scotland’s momentum was then checked by centre Emma Orr’s yellow card for a high tackle, later upgraded to a red, before wing Francesca McGhee’s try put them 22-21 ahead with 10 minutes left.
But after McGhee was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, Australia regained the lead through Moleka’s 74th-minute penalty and the Wallaroos sealed victory with Ashley Marsters’ late converted try.
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Latest Comments
I’m sure the Welsh girls will give it a go with everything they have. They are unlikely though to be able to stem the white tide for 80 minutes. Wales will pick their No 1 side, it remains to be seen what team the Red Roses will field, Mitchell seems determined to experiment
Go to commentsFrance will find it somewhat easier from hereon in until they get to Twickenham. Scotland are much improved but French home advantage, flair and nous should see them victorious. Italy will have their hands full with Ireland and even home advantage may not be enough for them. Ireland will be better in the final third and O’Brien will have her kicking boots on. I would not discount Italy completely as they showed much resilience against England. Wales were flattered by the scoreline against Scotland and will have more than their hands full with probably another experimental Red Roses side. Wales need to find some creativity behind the scrum and whilst their forwards are fierce competitors they are lacking a little in physical presence. England can play poorly by their standards and still win by 30+ points. If they play well you need a calculator against some teams. I would like to see Shekells get a chance at 12 as she, I thought, was the main positive for the RRs amongst the new/newish players. Others performed OK but did not suggest they were of the same standard as the usual incumbents and worthy of being in match day squads for KO matches. Perhaps Robinson will get a start to prove me wrong. I suspect almost everyone in the squad will at least be named in a match day squad after the first two or three matches.
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