Miller makes history as Wallaroos run rampant in 56-12 rout of Scotland

Miller reaches 20 in a blur of gold

Desiree Miller has carved her name into Wallaroos history. Shifted to fullback for the first time at Test level — with the injured Caitlyn Halse sidelined — the speedster scored two tries from near-identical scrum plays as Australia thrashed Scotland 56-12 in the WXV Global Series at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Saturday.

Her opening try, from a scrum under the Scottish posts, made her the first Wallaroo to reach 20 Test tries. She added a 21st two minutes into the second half, again from a scrum on the Scottish five-metre line, as the Wallaroos piled on six tries in a devastating scoring burst either side of halftime.

"I definitely feel this year we've really grown together as a group and I think you see that in the way we play," Miller told RugbyPass post-game. "Over the last few weeks, particularly overseas, we've built and we're really happy with how we went today."

On the positional switch, she was candid: "Definitely out of my comfort zone. I played a little bit of it in Super [Rugby] but it's my first time internationally. [My teammates] looked after me and we had a strong gameplan."

Whitaker's breakout afternoon

If Miller provided the history, Test rookie Amelia Whitaker provided the fireworks. The Randwick winger was named Player of the Match after scoring her first two tries in the gold jersey — including a 65th-minute long-range effort from an intercept that is a genuine contender for try of the year.

Whitaker made a game-high three line breaks and ran for 138 metres in a standout 80-minute performance, linking up with fellow NSW Waratahs teammates Miller and Maya Stewart in a suddenly formidable back three.

"Really nice to see [Stewart] come back and do what she knows best: find that line. And Milly getting her first [Test] try, and not only her first, her second. Really proud of her," Miller said.

Stewart, returning from an Achilles injury, marked her comeback with a first-half try, while hooker Brittany Merlo opened the scoring, fly-half Waiaria Ellis also crossed, and Eva Karpani — also back from injury — celebrated her 49th Test appearance by dragging three Scottish defenders over the line on the buzzer in the 79th minute. Scrum-half Samantha Wood steered the attack and slotted six of six conversions, with Faitala Moleka adding two more.

Scotland punished for indiscipline

Scotland could hardly have started better. Winger Katie Buchanan latched onto Helen Nelson's looping pass, cut inside and stepped through the cover to score her maiden international try on her first start inside four minutes for a 5-0 lead.

But the visitors' discipline unravelled. Six penalties in the first 20 minutes handed Australia territory and ball, and when centre Meryl Smith was yellow-carded in the 29th minute, the Wallaroos struck immediately — Miller powering over from the resulting scrum to make it 21-5.

The hosts led 35-5 at halftime, having run in five tries to one. Scotland, who had lost second-row Sarah Bonar to illness before kickoff, had no answer. Skipper Rachel Malcolm finally got the visitors back on the board in the 46th minute, but Eva Donaldson's late yellow card for a high shot on Karpani compounded the misery as the hosts closed in on 50 and Karpani's final try completed the eight-try rout.

Australia 56 (Tries: Merlo, Stewart, Miller 2, Whitaker 2, Ellis, Karpani. Cons: Wood 6/6, Moleka 2/2) def Scotland 12 (Tries: Buchanan, Malcolm. Cons: Nelson 1/2).

Rankings climb and a rematch awaits

The result — backing up last month's 30-10 win over the same opposition in Edinburgh — lifted Australia to sixth in the World Rugby rankings, after the USA's narrower 36-27 win over Italy in Mansfield, Texas, cost Jack Hanratty's side that place. It is the Wallaroos' biggest win since the 73-0 demolition of Samoa at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.

It is also a remarkable turnaround. After opening their international season with an 18-point win over Fiji in March, the Wallaroos endured a six-game losing run — off the pace in the Pacific Four Series, comfortably losing the Laurie O'Reilly Cup to the Black Ferns, and surrendering leads against England and France in the WXV Global Series. Saturday's win was their first Test on home soil since April.

The teams meet again in Canberra on Friday. A win at GIO Stadium would give Australia three consecutive victories for the first time since WXV 2 in 2024 and equal their 2025 win tally — a significant marker for a side led by an interim coaching staff under director of women's high performance Tim Walsh, ahead of the team's transition to full professionalism at the end of the year.

Saturday's game opened a historic quadruple-header at Accor Stadium, alongside Australia's men's and women's sevens fixtures and the All Blacks' 43-21 Bledisloe Cup win over the Wallabies in front of the venue's biggest Bledisloe crowd in more than a decade. But it started with the Wallaroos — and for the first time in a long time, the Sydney crowd had a home try-fest to celebrate.