Watch every second of the Wallaroos WXV Global Series live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nWhitaker, the niece of former Wallaby Chris, will start on the wing alongside Desiree Miller, who is four points away from being the first Australian to reach 100 Test points.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old was named Waratahs Player of the Year in 2026, joining an all-NSW back three with the returning Halse, completing her comeback from injury.<\/p>\n
Halse’s inclusion leads to a shift in the backline, pushing Faitala Moleka into the centres with Friedrichs, who missed the Test against the Black Ferns.<\/p>\n
Further changes to the backline see Samantha Wood start at scrumhalf, with Tia Hinds and Cecilia Smith the back replacements in a 6-2 split.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pia Tapsell will make her debut start, selected at blindside flanker in a backrow that includes Lily Bone and skipper Siokapesi Palu Sekona.<\/p>\n
Pohiva returns to the front-row after her injury, partnering with Waratahs teammates Brianna Hoy and Brittany Merlo.<\/p>\n
Bemrose headlines the new faces on the bench, with the Reds skipper coming through the Queensland pathways after being inspired by the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
The lock\/back-rower adds leadership off the bench along with former Wallaroos skippers Emily Chancellor and Piper Duck, with Eva Karpani and Tania Naden also named.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have picked two debutants in Amelia Whitaker and Jemma Bemrose, who both stepped up in Super Rugby this season, consistently doing their roles and earning their Test call up,” Director of Women’s High Performance Tim Walsh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team we are investing in the future while focusing on the present. We are looking forward to what the world champion English team will throw at us and we are ready to absorb and return with some interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
WALLAROOS TEAM FOR TEST AGAINST ENGLAND<\/p>\n
September 13: England v Wallaroos at CorpAcq Stadium, Salford – 12:00am AEST<\/p>\n
1. Brianna Hoy – #203 (NSW Waratahs\/Coffs Harbour Snappers) \u2013 14 caps<\/p>\n
2. Brittany Merlo – #230 (NSW Waratahs\/Sydney University) \u2013 4 caps<\/p>\n
3. Faliki Pohiva – #219 (NSW Waratahs\/Blacktown Scorpions) \u2013 11 caps<\/p>\n
4. Kaitlan Leaney – #179 (NSW Waratahs\/SCU Marlins) \u2013 40 caps<\/p>\n
5. Michaela Leonard – #168 (Western Force\/Tuggeranong Vikings) \u2013 47 caps<\/p>\n
6. Pia Tapsell – #236 (Western Force\/North Shore Rugby Club) \u2013 1 cap<\/p>\n
7. Lily Bone – #229 (ACT Brumbies\/Orange City) \u2013 4 caps<\/p>\n
8. Siokapesi Palu Sekona (c) – #194 (ACT Brumbies\/Rockdale Rangers) \u2013 28 caps<\/p>\n
9. Samantha Wood – #207 (Western Force\/Kalamunda Rugby) \u2013 16 caps<\/p>\n
10. Waiaria Ellis – #225 (NSW Waratahs\/Blacktown Scorpions) \u2013 7 caps<\/p>\n
11. Desiree Miller – #204 (NSW Waratahs\/Eastern Suburbs) \u2013 28 caps<\/p>\n
12. Faitala Moleka – #199 (ACT Brumbies\/Blacktown Scorpions) \u2013 31 caps<\/p>\n
13. Georgina Friedrichs – #178 (NSW Waratahs\/Wests Bulldogs) \u2013 42 caps<\/p>\n
14. Amelia Whitaker* (NSW Waratahs\/Randwick) \u2013 uncapped<\/p>\n
15. Caitlyn Halse – #210 (NSW Waratahs\/Camden Rams) \u2013 15 caps<\/p>\n
Reserves<\/p>\n
16. Tania Naden – #197 (ACT Brumbies\/Uni-North Owls) \u2013 30 caps<\/p>\n
17. Allana Sikimeti – #212 (Western Force\/Norths Eagles Rugby) \u2013 4 caps<\/p>\n
18. Eva Karpani – #171 (Queensland Reds\/Southern Suburbs) \u2013 46 caps<\/p>\n
19. Jemma Bemrose* (Queensland Reds\/Palm Beach Currumbin Alligators) \u2013 uncapped<\/p>\n
20. Piper Duck – #185 (NSW Waratahs\/Tumut Bullettes) \u2013 27 caps<\/p>\n
21. Emily Chancellor – #158 (NSW Waratahs\/Sydney University) \u2013 38 caps<\/p>\n
22. Tia Hinds – #222 (NSW Waratahs\/Randwick) \u2013 11 caps<\/p>\n
23. Cecilia Smith – #190 (Western Force\/Leeton Dianas) \u2013 31 caps<\/p>\n
*denotes uncapped<\/p>\n
Unavailable for selection due to injury<\/p>\n
Tabua Tuinakauvadra (knee)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NSW Waratahs winger Amelia Whitaker has been named to start on her Wallaroos debut against world champions England…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,1208,760,85,19259],"class_list":["post-886644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-england","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-wallaroos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886644","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=886644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}