Origins Women had begun playing rugby in Australia hand-in-hand with the expansion of the game, with the earliest documented matches in the regional areas of New South Wales during the late 1930s. As the popularity of men's rugby expanded internationally in the 1970s and 1980s, the appetite for international women's sides grew following the inaugural men's Rugby World Cup in
1987. Following the first women's rugby union Test match in 1982 and the
inaugural Women's Rugby European Cup in 1988 that saw Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Italy play, the British side was replaced by their regional sides, with England and Wales playing their first matches in 1987, before being joined by Canada and the United States later that year. The
Black Ferns followed in 1990 - culminating in the inaugural
Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991. In Australia, the first National Women's Tournament was held in Newcastle, NSW in 1992 - and finally, in 1993, the Australian Women's Rugby Union was formally established, with the organisation selecting the name ‘the Wallaroos’ as the moniker of the new national Women's side, named after one of the oldest clubs in Australia that participated in the Sydney/NSW competition, which later became the
Shute Shield.
1990s: early years The Wallaroos played their first international in 1994 against New Zealand. Wallaroos Assistant Coach,
Sam Needs, was appointed as interim Head Coach until the end of the
2026 Pacific Four Series following the departure of Joanne Yapp after the World Cup in England. ==Records==