Three years out from hosting a home Women's Rugby World Cup, Rugby Australia has made the kind of hire it hopes will turn the Wallaroos from quarterfinal also-rans into genuine contenders. Tim Walsh, the man behind Australia's golden run in women's sevens, is taking over as RA's new director of women's high-performance.
If you've followed Aussie rugby at all, you'll know Walsh's name. He coached the women's sevens side to Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold, plus the recent World Championship win in France. Now he's been handed the keys to both the sevens and 15-a-side programs, with a clear deadline staring him in the face: 2029, on home soil.
The job in front of him
Walsh's brief is to align the Wallaroos and sevens setups so players can move between both formats, and to steer the Wallaroos into a full-time professional program — something RA wants done later this year. He's also heavily involved in finding the team a permanent head coach, with that role currently vacant.
The Wallaroos are ranked ninth in the world and went out in the quarterfinals of last year's World Cup in England, which the hosts went on to win. To be competitive against fully professional sides like England and New Zealand in 2029, a lot has to change quickly.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh admits it "will be a sprint" to get the side up to speed. Walsh isn't fazed. "When you have a program where you're full-time, you can do that at an accelerated rate," he said. "I think once the Wallaroos get into that environment, their ability to take on new challenges will increase exponentially."
He's done this before. Walsh was coaching the women's sevens when they went professional in 2014 — two years before they won gold at the Rio Olympics. He's betting the same model can lift the Wallaroos.
The fight for players
Here's the bit that complicates everything: rugby isn't the only code chasing the best female athletes in Australia. Women's State of Origin and the NRLW are pulling hard, and last month sevens star Teagan Levi announced she was joining the Gold Coast Titans.
Both Teagan and her sister Maddison have been NRLW targets for a while. The good news for rugby fans is Teagan's switch doesn't shut the door — she could return in time for the 2028 LA Olympics and the 2029 World Cup.
Walsh isn't bitter about the NRLW poaching talent. He reckons rugby has the stronger pitch right now, given Australia is hosting the World Cup in 2029 and the Olympics in 2032. "When you have a product that we have and the benchmark events that the world are going to be watching, I think it's a real positive," he said.
Chasing a 'Matildas moment'
The dream RA keeps coming back to is what happened with football. When the Matildas reached the semifinals of the 2023 Women's World Cup, the whole country tuned in and a generation of girls picked up the game.
RA president Kristy Giteau wants that same energy for the Wallaroos. "You can't be what you can't see, and visibility is going to become our best friend come 2029," she said. "I envision packed stadiums, girls screaming [as they wait] after a game to get an autograph by one of our Wallaroos players."
For now there's no betting market or fixed coach to point to — just three years, a new boss with a winning habit, and a home World Cup that could change how women's rugby is seen in Australia. There are worse positions to be starting from.
Sources:
If this changes where you play, the community keeps its thread on casinos in Australia up to date.
If you've followed Aussie rugby at all, you'll know Walsh's name. He coached the women's sevens side to Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold, plus the recent World Championship win in France. Now he's been handed the keys to both the sevens and 15-a-side programs, with a clear deadline staring him in the face: 2029, on home soil.
The job in front of him
Walsh's brief is to align the Wallaroos and sevens setups so players can move between both formats, and to steer the Wallaroos into a full-time professional program — something RA wants done later this year. He's also heavily involved in finding the team a permanent head coach, with that role currently vacant.
The Wallaroos are ranked ninth in the world and went out in the quarterfinals of last year's World Cup in England, which the hosts went on to win. To be competitive against fully professional sides like England and New Zealand in 2029, a lot has to change quickly.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh admits it "will be a sprint" to get the side up to speed. Walsh isn't fazed. "When you have a program where you're full-time, you can do that at an accelerated rate," he said. "I think once the Wallaroos get into that environment, their ability to take on new challenges will increase exponentially."
He's done this before. Walsh was coaching the women's sevens when they went professional in 2014 — two years before they won gold at the Rio Olympics. He's betting the same model can lift the Wallaroos.
The fight for players
Here's the bit that complicates everything: rugby isn't the only code chasing the best female athletes in Australia. Women's State of Origin and the NRLW are pulling hard, and last month sevens star Teagan Levi announced she was joining the Gold Coast Titans.
Both Teagan and her sister Maddison have been NRLW targets for a while. The good news for rugby fans is Teagan's switch doesn't shut the door — she could return in time for the 2028 LA Olympics and the 2029 World Cup.
Walsh isn't bitter about the NRLW poaching talent. He reckons rugby has the stronger pitch right now, given Australia is hosting the World Cup in 2029 and the Olympics in 2032. "When you have a product that we have and the benchmark events that the world are going to be watching, I think it's a real positive," he said.
Chasing a 'Matildas moment'
The dream RA keeps coming back to is what happened with football. When the Matildas reached the semifinals of the 2023 Women's World Cup, the whole country tuned in and a generation of girls picked up the game.
RA president Kristy Giteau wants that same energy for the Wallaroos. "You can't be what you can't see, and visibility is going to become our best friend come 2029," she said. "I envision packed stadiums, girls screaming [as they wait] after a game to get an autograph by one of our Wallaroos players."
For now there's no betting market or fixed coach to point to — just three years, a new boss with a winning habit, and a home World Cup that could change how women's rugby is seen in Australia. There are worse positions to be starting from.
Sources:
If this changes where you play, the community keeps its thread on casinos in Australia up to date.