Australian women's sevens co-captain Charlotte Caslick as well as several of her teammates have expressed interest in moving into the 15-player game to bolster the Wallaroos for Rugby World Cup 2025 in England, sources have told ESPN.
Caslick has previously expressed her desire to switch formats when she re-signed with Rugby Australia in 2022, after she witnessed the Wallaroos' performance at the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand (played in 2022). However, ESPN understands, interest from players such as Teagan and Maddi Levi as well as Demi Hayes, has ruffled feathers inside the Wallaroos camp.
Considered the 'Sevens Queen' Caslick has collected Olympic gold, Commonwealth Games gold, a Sevens World Cup, three World Series titles, and was named World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year in 2022. She is currently in Madrid ahead of the SVNS Grand Final where Australia will battle for the inaugural SVNS Champions title.
Meanwhile, sisters Teagan and Maddi have enjoyed an incredible rise through the Australian sevens ranks after transitioning from AFL. Maddi debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where the side was knocked out in the quarterfinals, but she has since become one of the leading try-scorers on the sevens circuit, becoming the fastest Australian woman to score 100 tries. Meanwhile her sister Teagan made her debut a year later and has become a mainstay of the line-up, alongside Hayes who is currently sidelined with a season ending ACL injury.
Caslick and the Levi sisters wouldn't be the first sevens players to put their hand up for Wallaroos selection with teammates Sharni Smale (nee Williams), Bienne Terita and former Aussie sevens captain Shannon Parry part of the Wallaroos squad that was knocked out in the quarterfinals at the 2021 World Cup.
It's good news for Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp, who has suffered a poor start to her coaching tenure Down Under after Australia failed to register a single win in the Pacific Four series, including a 67-19 thrashing to the Black Ferns on Saturday afternoon. However, the impressive sevens players won't provide coverage in the positions most needed.
Beaten by Canada, the United States and New Zealand, the Wallaroos have been relegated to WXV2 status where they'll compete against Italy and Scotland with a third opponent to be determined, while they also failed to qualify for next year's World Cup with their final opportunity coming later this year during the WXV2 tournament in Cape Town.
While expectations weren't high for the Wallaroos to bag their first ever win over the Black Ferns, or to defeat Canada to open their tournament, a win over the USA - who have struggled over the last 12 months - was the bare minimum required to reach WXV1 and put them on track to reach Yapp's goal of becoming a top four ranked side. Instead, Australia has been given a rude awakening of just how much work still needs to be done.
While the Wallaroos backline held their own across the PAC4 series with outside centre Georgina Friedrichs continuing her impressive run of form from last year's WXV1 tournament as well as wing Maya Stewart who scored two tries in three games, the standouts, the forward pack -- in particular the tight five -- was badly overpowered in each encounter.
Australia's scrum was dominated by Canada with just a 55% success rate, while every Canadian point came through their forwards, with their rolling maul finding little resistance on the way to the tryline, while the Wallaroos lineout also fumbled several opportunities. Against the Black Ferns it was Australia's back-row that failed to secure their own breakdown in the absence of Ash Marsters.
Prop Bridie O'Gorman was easily found out across the three games, not just struggling at scrum time but also in open play as she was exposed defensively; she was also guilty of several handling errors at vital moments.
While Yapp turned to Eva Karpani for the starting role for the final two matches, the tight-head prop has failed to find the same form that saw her dominate against France and Wales in last year's WXV1 which saw her named as Wallaroos' Player of the Year.
In the second row, captain Michaela Leonard struggled to have the same influence on the game as she's enjoyed previously, often sent backwards when taking on the line, perhaps a symptom of the growing pressure on her side to perform, while her locking partner Kailtlin Leaney was eventually benched for the final Test with Atasi Lafai given a chance to make an impact.
It wasn't surprising that Australia's backline had little chance to free up their threats out wide when their forwards were constantly pushed back and failed to get the front-foot ball so integral to dominating the game. While Stewart was impressive when given the chance, she was often forced to come off her wing and hunt for the ball, raising the question that maybe she could be better used in the centres with her ability to cut through small gaps and her combination with Friedrichs giving the Wallaroos an edge.
But it was the game against the USA that was most disappointing for Australia, after they simply switched off in the second half and allowed their opposition to out enthuse them as they failed to maintain their composure to give up what should have been a strong victory in Melbourne, having led 20-8 at the break.
Unfortunately for Yapp, the Wallaroos struggles in the tight five demonstrate just how little depth there is in Australian women's rugby with the coach short on selection options and the younger generation still years away from developing into a Test-ready forward pack.
With the PAC4 series now in the rearview, Yapp and the Wallaroos have plenty to work on as they turn to a one-off clash with Fiji in July, while the return O'Reilly Series clash with the Black Ferns follows a week later.