England, Australia name squads for historic Vegas clash

England women's coach, Stuart Barrow, has named a 20-strong squad who will make the journey to Las Vegas to face the world champion Australia Jillaroos at Allegiant Stadium on March 1.

Halfback Georgia Roche, an NRLW premiership winner with Newcastle Knights in 2023 and England's inaugural Woman of Steel in 2018, will link up with her international team-mates for the first time in more than 12 months when she attends their final camp at Weetwood on February 14 before travelling to Nevada.

Canberra Raiders second-row Hollie-Mae Dodd is named after a try-scoring return against Wales last year following her recovery from an ACL rupture, with Paige Travis also selected ahead of her move Down Under to join Parramatta Eels.

Tamzin Renouf is one of five York Valkyrie players called up after returning from a knee injury at the end of last season with her teammate Jas Bell in contention to make her international debut.

18-year-old Jenna Foubister is the second uncapped player to be named and will represent Wigan Warriors alongside Anna Davies.

The squad also includes seven players from St Helens with three of those having represented England during their last meeting against the Jillaroos in 2017 – Jodie Cunningham, Amy Hardcastle and Shona Hoyle.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Your #EnglandRL Women squad for their historic clash with the @AusJillaroos in Las Vegas has been announced! pic.twitter.com/nKYkXYc8kT

— England Rugby League (@England_RL) February 9, 2025

England Women Head Coach, Stuart Barrow, said: “Every player in this travelling squad has an important role to play when we face the Australia Jillaroos in three weeks.

“It’s been a really difficult selection process because there is a lot of talent within the group, which means there are some very good players who will unfortunately miss out.

“Now we have to focus on the challenge that lies ahead which is a historic fixture against the world champions for the first time since 2017 and I’m very much looking forward to getting the group together for our final camp next weekend.”

England Women versus the Australia Jillaroos will be the penultimate match of a quadruple header featuring a Betfred Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves and two NRL matches - Raiders v Warriors and Panthers v Sharks.

The Jillaroos squad features just one change from the team which won the Pacific Cup final against New Zealand last November, with 2024 Dally M Medallist Olivia Kernick replacing her Sydney Roosters team-mate Millie Boyle.

JUST IN: The Harvey Norman Jillaroos team and head coach announcement for the historic Las Vegas fixture 📣

There's still time to secure your tickets: https://t.co/YjktOgDYLl pic.twitter.com/Mv01NEV5AN

— NRL (@NRL) February 7, 2025

Jess Skinner has been appointed as interim Jillaroos coach for the Las Vegas Test Match.