The Wallaroos are set to face the USA Eagles in Kansas City this Saturday, marking their first meeting since a tightly contested 31-all draw at the 2025 World Cup. After advancing to the quarter-finals on points difference in that tournament, Australia will be looking to secure a definitive victory this weekend.<\/p>\n
Four ACT Brumbies Women will feature in the clash, providing a strong core for the national side. Siokapesi Palu Sekona will lead the team as captain, joined in the starting lineup by hooker Tania Naden and fullback Faitala Moleka.<\/p>\n
A key highlight of this announcement is the debut of Brumbies scrum-half Ella Ryan.<\/p>\n
Ryan returned to Canberra in 2025 following a stint with the NSW Waratahs and time playing with the Canberra Raiders. Strong, consistent performances during the Super Rugby Women’s season and on the sevens circuit earned the young back a spot in the extended Wallaroos squad late last year.<\/p>\n
After putting in the work across all of the national camps in 2026, Ryan has earned her maiden cap. She will make her debut off the bench alongside Queensland Reds duo Dillyn Blackburn and Ava Wereta, as the three new faces look to make an impact on the international stage.<\/p>\n
Match Details<\/p>\n
Date: Saturday, 18 April 2026Time: 11:00 am AESTVenue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, USABroadcast: Watch live on Stan Sport<\/p>\n
Wallaroos Team to Face the USA Eagles<\/p>\n
Brianna Hoy (#203, NSW Waratahs\/Coffs Harbour Snappers), 11 capsTania Naden (#197, ACT Brumbies\/Uni-North Owls), 27 capsEva Karpani (#171, Queensland Reds\/Southern Suburbs), 43 capsKaitlan Leaney (#179, NSW Waratahs\/SCU Marlins), 37 capsTiarah Minns (#217, Queensland Reds\/Melbourne University), 4 capsSiokapesi Palu Sekona (c) (#194, ACT Brumbies\/Rockdale Rangers), 25 capsEmily Chancellor (#158, NSW Waratahs\/Sydney University), 36 capsPiper Duck (#185, NSW Waratahs\/Tumut Bullettes), 24 capsSamantha Wood (#207, Western Force\/Kalamunda Rugby Club), 12 capsNicole Ledington (#226, Western Force\/Kalamunda Rugby Club), 2 capsDesiree Miller (#204, NSW Waratahs\/Eastern Suburbs), 24 capsSidney Taylor (#227, Queensland Reds\/Wests Bulldogs), 2 capsGeorgina Friedrichs (#178, NSW Waratahs\/Wests Bulldogs), 40 capsMaya Stewart (#196, NSW Waratahs\/Nelson Bay Gropers), 24 capsFaitala Moleka (#199, ACT Brumbies\/Blacktown Scorpions), 28 caps<\/p>\n
Reserves\n<\/p>\n
16. Adiana Talakai (#182, NSW Waratahs\/Sydney University), 23 caps<\/p>\n
17. Faliki Pohiva (#219, NSW Waratahs\/Blacktown Scorpions), 9 caps<\/p>\n
18. Bridie O\u2019Gorman (#180, NSW Waratahs\/Sydney University), 39 caps<\/p>\n
19. Michaela Leonard (#168, Western Force\/Tuggeranong Vikings), 44 caps<\/p>\n
20. Dillyn Blackburn* (Queensland Reds\/Gympie Hammers), debut<\/p>\n
21. Ella Ryan* (ACT Brumbies\/Canberra Royals), debut<\/p>\n
22. Ava Wereta* (Queensland Reds\/Coomera Crushers), debut<\/p>\n
23. Waiaria Ellis (#225, NSW Waratahs\/Blacktown Scorpions), 4 caps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wallaroos are set to face the USA Eagles in Kansas City this Saturday, marking their first meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[58864,64,63,760,85,19259,58463],"class_list":{"0":"post-609513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-act-brumbies","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-rugby","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-wallaroos","14":"tag-womens-rugby"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}