Wallaroos wing Maya Stewart will make her first appearance for the Waratahs this season in Saturday\u2019s Swyftx Super Rugby Women\u2019s semi-final against the Western Force.<\/p>\n
Stewart, 26, missed the regular season matches due to an ankle injury, but returns to the starting line-up as one of three changes from the 26-19 defeat to the Reds in Round 5 at Leichhardt Oval. Faliki Pohiva comes into the side at tighthead prop while Australia Sevens player Tia Hinds will make her Waratahs debut at scrum-half.<\/p>\n
The semi-final will form part of a historic double header with the Wallabies\u2019 Test against Italy in the Nations Championship at HBF Park on Saturday.<\/p>\n
And Waratahs head coach Mike Ruthven was excited at the prospect of being a part of the double header and was delighted to see Stewart, Hinds and Caitlyn Halse added to the team, with the latter also returning from injury on the bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome the return of Maya Stewart and Caitlyn Halse and the Waratahs debut of Tia Hinds this week. To have their experience join the group at a critical time is incredibly valuable for the team,\u201d Ruthven said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe return of these players has allowed us to look at a different picture in the backline which we are really excited about.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity to play this game as part of a double header with the Wallabies is exciting for the players and they are looking forward to putting on a strong performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a group we have had a really productive two weeks and have strong confidence in how we want to attack this game. Everyone is looking forward to the opportunity in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pohiva, who swaps with Bridie O\u2019Gorman on the bench, forms an all-Wallaroo front-row alongside Britt Merlo and Brianna Hoy.<\/p>\n
The partnership of Leilani Nathan and Kaitlan Leaney continues in the second-row, having started every game so far this season.<\/p>\n
Ruby Anderson retains her place at blindside flanker, with captain Emily Chancellor and Piper Duck forming the remainder of the back-row. Chancellor will become the fifth most-capped Waratah in Super Rugby Women\u2019s with 31 caps. <\/p>\n
There is a bit of movement in the backs, with Hinds making her debut at scrum-half and Waiaria Ellis shifting from full-back to fly-half. <\/p>\n
Dutch back Pleuni Kievit moves from fly-half to outside centre, with Rosie Ferguson keeping her place at inside centre.<\/p>\n
Amelia Whitaker will line up on the left wing, having mostly appeared on the right this season, while Desiree Miller also moves to full-back, meaning Stewart will take to the field on the right wing for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
On the bench, O\u2019Gorman will become our second-most capped player should she take to the field, while the aforementioned 19-year-old Halse is named in the squad for the first time since Round 1.<\/p>\n
Western Force Women v NSW Waratahs Women<\/p>\n
Swyftx Super Rugby Women\u2019s semi-final, 4PM kick-off AEST, live on Stan Sport<\/p>\n
HBF Park, 310 Pier St, Perth, WA 6000<\/p>\n
Starting XV:<\/p>\n
Brianna HoyBrittany MerloFaliki PohivaLeilani NathanKaitlan Leaney (vc)Ruby AndersonEmily Chancellor \u00a9Piper DuckTia HindsWaiaria EllisAmelia WhitakerRosie FergusonPleuni KievitMaya StewartDesiree Miller (vc)<\/p>\n
Replacements:<\/p>\n
16. Nancy Volkman<\/p>\n
17. Emily Robinson<\/p>\n
18. Bridie O\u2019Gorman<\/p>\n
19. Grace Gillies<\/p>\n
20. Nicole Nathan<\/p>\n
21. Edie Burke<\/p>\n
22. Lusiana Vesikula<\/p>\n
23. Caitlyn Halse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallaroos wing Maya Stewart will make her first appearance for the Waratahs this season in Saturday\u2019s Swyftx Super…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85,33009],"class_list":["post-801086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-waratahs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801086","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=801086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}