Wallaroos plan World Cup masterclass
Wherever she lines up for their crunch World Cup for women clash, the Wallaroos are hoping versatile veteran Ash Marsters delivers a similar performance to her last outing against the United States.
Australia face the United States in York on Saturday in their second pool game.
With hosts and world No.1 England unbackable favourites to top the pool, the Wallaroos and the United States are battling for the second spot to advance through to the quarterfinals, making the fixture a do-or-die match.
Playing in her third World Cup, Marsters proved a key weapon in Australia’s last previous match against the United States in Canberra in May, which Australia won 27-19.
Starting at openside flank, the 31-year-old scored a crucial try in each half, with the match marred by a late red card as Eagles centre Alev Kelter was sent off for stamping the head of rival centre Georgina Friedrichs in the final minutes.
The former ice hockey and soccer player and 2024 Olympic Sevens bronze medallist was subsequently banned for three matches.
Marsters expected another torrid encounter but rather than think about the consequences of losing, said every World Cup win was vital.
“Yeah, they’re a physical team.,” the Melbourne product said
“They’re not afraid to get over your breakdowns so I expect that they’ll be doing that this weekend when we play them.
“But in saying that we’ve had time to prepare and we’ve done a lot of work on our side too in terms of physicality so I think we’ll match that this weekend.
“I don’t take any game for granted … coming into this one, especially in the World Cup, every game is a do or die, basically.”
The country’s most capped female player with 42 appearances, Marsters has proven her amazing versatility over the years.
In her first World Cup in 2014 she was named as a centre but made her debut as a scrumhalf.
At the 2021 tournament she was a hooker and this edition is primarily a flank, although still able to fill any role across the park.
Marsters felt it was a “privilege” to be able to turn out for the Wallaroos, regardless of the number on her back and said positional changes had helped her game.
“It’s just a privilege to be able to fill multiple numbers and jerseys wherever I can,” she said.
“I’ve just had good opportunities where they came and just been adaptable and being able to fill different positions where I needed to so that’s cool.
“All positions, they complement each other in a way – like, that’s rugby – so it probably helped my game to see footy in different eyes, like backs’ eyes and forwards’ eyes.”
