The 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup was the 13th edition of the competition. The matches were played on 20 and 27 of August, with both Australia and New Zealand hosting one match each. After a two year absence due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, it was confirmed that the competition would return. The first test was played in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

at the Orangetheory Stadium on 20 August 2022. The second test was played in a curtain raiser to the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

and

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

test in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 27 August 2022. The

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tourname ...

won the first test in Christchurch with an overwhelming 52–5 score and retained the O'Reilly Cup. They won the series after winning the second test in a hard-fought match, the game ended 14–22.

Table

Fixtures

First match

Notes: * Awhina Tangen-Wainohu and

Tyla Nathan-Wong Tyla Nathan-Wong (born 1 July 1994) is a New Zealand professional rugby sevens representative and two-time Olympic medalist. She became a silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Oly ...

of the

, and

Bree-Anna Cheatham Bree-Anna Cheatham (born 29 March 1997) is an Australian rugby union player. She plays for the Queensland Reds in the Super W competition. Cheatham missed the entire 2022 Super W season due to injury. She was named in Australia's squad for the Pa ...

(Australia) made their international debuts. *

Charmaine McMenamin Charmaine McMenamin (born 13 May 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league player. She previously played for the Kiwi Ferns in 2010 before making her test debut for the Black Ferns in 2013. She was a member of the Black Ferns victorio ...

(New Zealand) returns for her first test match since 2019. *New Zealand win their 21st test match against the

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since th ...

. *New Zealand and Australia haven’t played for the O’Reilly Cup since 2019.

Second match

Notes: *This will be the 22nd Test between New Zealand and Australia, the Black Ferns have won every Test between the nations. *

Ariana Bayler Ariana Bayler (born 14 December 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, Black Ferns internationally and was a member of their 2021 Rugby World Cup champion squad. She also plays f ...

(New Zealand) gets her first start at Scrum-half, her previous four Tests were off the bench. *

Grace Steinmetz Grace Steinmetz (born 16 January 1998) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her test debut for the Black Ferns in 2022. She plays for Chiefs Manawa in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition, she previously played for Matatū. She also repres ...

made her test debut, while Santo Taumata made her international debut for the

. * Siokapesi Palu and Bienne Terita made their international debuts for the

Squads

Australia

On 2 August, head coach Jay Tregonning named a 32-player squad for the 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup. Head coach: Jay Tregonning

New Zealand

On 2 August, head coach Wayne Smith named a 33-player squad for the 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup. Head coach: Wayne Smith

Broadcast

All the O’Reilly Cup matches were broadcast live on Sky.

References

{{Laurie O'Reilly Cup Laurie O'Reilly Cup Australia women's national rugby union team New Zealand women's national rugby union team

Laurie O'Reilly Cup The Laurie O'Reilly Cup is the trophy competed for by the women's rugby union teams of Australia women's national rugby union team, Australia and Black Ferns, New Zealand. The two nations met annually between 1994 and 1998, with New Zealand winnin ...