Former Wallaroos captain Grace Hamilton believes her side is finding its feet at the right time as a Rugby World Cup quarter-finals qualification beckons.
After their mammoth 41-17 defeat to New Zealand in their first Pool A fixture, Australia bounced back with a come-from-behind 14-12 win over Scotland.
Australia will face Wales, who were pumped by New Zealand 56-12 in their last match, this Saturday at 12.15pm (AEDT).
Watch every match of the women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand
While Australia’s two performances to date have been poles apart, there’s reason for optimism.
Against New Zealand, they came out firing in the first 30 minutes to lead 17-0 before being run down. Against Scotland, a 14-12 win, they came on strong late and defended well throughout.
“We made it tough for ourselves, but we are super excited for a win,” said Hamilton.
“We have been waiting a long time for that and I’m glad we are peaking and peaking at the right time, it’s where we need to be.
“We were against the wind in the first half so that wasn’t in our favour and Scotland really came at us.
READ MORE: Cummins in $40m showdown with Cricket Australia bosses
READ MORE: Cleary shortcoming flagged in wrestle with DCE
READ MORE: Panthers eyeing budding schoolboy superstar
“They stopped our momentum well and we couldn’t get a roll on and that’s how we want to play, we want to play fast.
“At the end of the day we know we have the talent and we know we have the fight and all the messaging this game has been whatever it takes to win this game and I am very proud of the girls for what we achieved out there.”
Wallaroos finally break Scotland defence at RWC
Australia can lose their match against Wales and still conceivably make it through to the quarter-finals, pending results of other matches in other pools.
Winning guarantees them a spot in the knock-out stages.
The challenge of Wales isn’t lost on Hamilton, who said combining the best of their performances over New Zealand and Scotland will make for the perfect match.
“We need to make that quarter-final and I still have faith that we will make that quarter-final,” she explained.
“Wales will be tough, we have seen them play, we saw that they played for 83 minutes last week.
“For us, it’s all about our process and what we need to get better at and there are definitely areas that we need to improve on especially.
“We started well against New Zealand and we didn’t start well [against Scotland] so it’s all about putting those pieces together.”
Australia plays Wales on Saturday at 12.15pm (AEDT).
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
‘I got the yips that night’: Rugby legends trade hilarious yarns on Stan Sport’s Glory Days series
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
