Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson says the team is riding the wave of national sporting success ahead of a blockbuster weekend.
The Wallabies’ sold out match against Ireland is in prime position on a stacked sporting calendar across the world in the next 24 hours.
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It starts with the Socceroos’ World Cup elimination game against Egypt in the early hours of Saturday morning for a spot in the round of 16.
As Wilson and the Wallabies take the field, Alex de Minaur will be set to continue his Wimbledon campaign in the third round, out to become the first Aussie man to claim the title since 2001.
It finishes on Sunday with the Women’s T20 World Cup between Australia and hosts England, setting the scene for a special weekend.
“We love it,” the sporting-mad Wilson said to reporters. “You see what the support for Socceroos has been over the last few weeks, it's the whole country getting behind it, everyone is going to pubs and watching itt's a really cool time when you see your whole nation get behind a sport.
“It's a really big day of support tomorrow in Australia. You've got Socceroos, you've got ‘the Demon’ over in Wimbledon and then with us. It's an exciting day for Australian sport and I hope it's a really good day.”
The Wallabies have lost their last five games to Ireland, four of which were within five points. Wilson pointed to their powerhouse bench as the key towards bucking this trend and turning the result.
“We didn't finish the games as well as we did, which we probably did really well at the start of the year. Our bench came on and made massive impacts and were the difference in a few of the earlier wins.
“We've got a really strong bench this week. Players like Tom Hooper, Tom Wright, James Slipper, and Taniela Tupou on the bench are going to come and make a big impact.
“Hopefully if the game's in a position for them to make a big impact at the end, it'll be really good for us.”
The Aussies begin their Test campaign looking to answer the lingering questions of last year’s rocky season.
2025 began with wins over the British & Irish Lions and world number one Springboks in South Africa, only to fall away towards the end of the year.
“We're another year together and we're a close group. Joe [Schmidt] is really making us keep trying to improve and keep adapting as a team,” Wilson added.
“We've had a really good few weeks of prep. We've really enjoyed our training together and got a good preparation, now it's about us going there and putting a good performance in.”
