Days after Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp tried to allay fears of an internal rift between players on the eve of the World Cup, former dual-international Mat Rogers has slammed Rugby Australia for its handling of the integration of Australia’s women’s sevens stars to the XVs team.

In addition, Rogers, who represents superstar sevens star Maddison Levi, said that if his client were to be called into the Wallaroos that the 22-year-old tryscoring machine would be “set up to fail”.

“I don’t think she can (make the World Cup),” Rogers said on Stan Sport’s Inside Line program on Wednesday night.

“She’s not going to have enough game time.

“It’s just unfair on her and the squad to throw her in there and expect her to be the world beater that she is in sevens in fifteens.

“There’s too much pressure.

“It’s a difficult situation. Injuries haven’t been friendly to her this year.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate step to take now, I think it’s passed in this season.

“I’m speaking from Maddi’s perspective, out of care for her. I don’t want to see her set up to fail, and I think that’s what is happening, if they pursue it further this year.”

Mat Rogers says Maddison Levi would be “set up to fail” if she made her Wallaroos debut in 2025. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)

Rogers’ comments came a fortnight after Levi told reporters in Sydney that she remained “hopeful” about featuring for the Wallaroos in 2025, including at the World Cup, despite missing the chance to play one or two games for the Queensland Reds because of a broken thumb.

“I’ve been talking to Joe and Timmy (Walsh) as well about how that (transition) looks,” said Levi, who has yet to play the 15-a-side version of the game after making her Australian sevens debut as a 17-year-old.

“But, I guess, for me it’s just about playing good footy at sevens, and I know that they’re two different games but you’re still passing, running and doing the same things, so hopefully I can lock down that selection or go into camp and prove myself that way.”

While sevens stars Charlotte Caslick, Bienne Terita and Tia Hinds were named in the Wallaroos’ 40-person squad after pulling out of the World Series final in Los Angeles next month, the other six players who put their hands up to play in this year’s Super W tournament, including Levi, were not.

“They’re not available for selection for the first camp because they’re going to LA,” Yapp told reporters at Rugby Australia’s headquarters in Sydney on Tuesday.

But Rogers, who had a brief spell in rugby sevens before earning his first Wallabies cap in mid-2002, said the decision to allow the sevens stars to swan in and out of the Super Rugby Women’s competition had been a recipe for disaster.

“I just think we should just let the sevens girls do what they do and the fifteens girls (do what they do), and then right before the World Cup just say to all the sevens girls, ‘yeah,  you can go and play in the fifteens’ and see if it doesn’t create a bit of animosity between the players,” Rogers said facetiously.

“That’s what’s happened this year – and it wasn’t pretty.

“It’s been unfair on the sevens girls, and it’s been unfair on the fifteens girls.”

Dual-international Mat Rogers has slammed Rugby Australia for thinking Australia’s women’s sevens players could transition overnight to the 15-a-side game. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images).

It was in December that nine Australian women’s sevens players put their hands up to play in the Super Rugby W competition in a bid to feature for the Wallaroos at the World Cup.

But their busy schedule meant that unless they withdrew from the World Series tournament, they would be limited to one or two appearances.

Levi, who broke her thumb at the Perth Sevens, wasn’t able to play for the Reds.

Rogers said that regardless of whether Levi would have been fit like her sister to play for the Reds, the limited time to transition wasn’t enough to master the game.

He added that it would be a destabilizing moment for those who had been trying to earn selection for the Wallaroos at the World Cup after years of toil for their Super Rugby franchises.

“Give them time, give them a year. Don’t just give them a game,” he said.

“I just know as a player, if this is my position and I’ve been working my butt off to play in a Rugby World Cup and then all of a sudden you get flooded with these girls from a different program that all of a sudden come in, I would have been filthy.”

Yapp, who took over the Wallaroos last year and previously captained England, denied there was tension in the squad because of the transitioning sevens players.

“No, I think on the whole … because we’ve been really transparent through this whole process, it’s not like all of a sudden we’re just bringing them in,” Yapp said at her squad announcement.

“We’ve been really clear with the players throughout all of this, so they recognise that for us to be successful, we want to take the best players to the World Cup, and if they’re part of that squad, then they’re part of that squad, and I think that’s been seen as a real positive thing.

“What it’s done is, with regards to the depth of the squad, even just knowing that those players are putting their hand up, we’ve seen real growth in our girls, because it’s like the competition for places is there.

“We’ve seen real improvements in a lot of our backs in terms of their strength and conditioning scores and their Broncos, and all that kind of stuff.

“What it’s done is when there’s competition for places, it pushes people, which we’ve seen.”

Jo Yapp says the Wallaroos’ selection process has been clear and that there isn’t an internal rift between players months out from the World Cup. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

The Wallaroos’ camp started in Canberra on Thursday, with the national team to play seven Tests ahead of their August 23 World Cup opener against Samoa.

Yapp will cut ten players from her 40-woman squad before their Test opener against Fiji in Suva on May 3. Yapp can then add up to six additional players ahead of their Pacific Four Series opening match against the Black Ferns in Newcastle on May 10.

It’s expected several players from the national sevens team, including Levi, will be called up.

Yapp said she was conscious of not throwing in anyone prematurely without the necessary preparation.

“Ultimately, we want to make sure we’re setting Maddi up for success,” Yapp said.

“Bringing her straight in to play a Test match without any real XVs exposure or experience … wouldn’t be fair on her. If we’re bringing her in, we need to give her opportunities to train with the group first.”