Australia name World Cup squad

Wallaroos coach Paul Verrell has named 28 players with the headline names including Olympic Sevens Gold Medalists Sharni Williams and Shannon Parry.There are two uncapped players with Mahalia Murphy joined by Western Australian flyhalf Trilleen Pomare.

The squad has been named after three recent test defeats. On their tour in New Zealand recently, Australia lost by big margins to England (53-10), New Zealand (44-17) and Canada (45-5).

But the experience will have been enormously helpful for a squad ill-used to regular test matches.Overall the squad features 156 caps of Test experience with nine having tasted Rugby World Cup action before, as the Wallaroos aim to build on their seventh place finish in 2014.Verrell said: "We have had some solid preparation during our Test series in New Zealand earlier this month, and had the opportunity to blood some new talent at Test level."That tour in New Zealand really showed us the standard of the best three teams in the world and we know what we need to do to reach that level now, so it's time for the next generation of Wallaroos to really step up."We have a really competitive pool with Ireland, France and Japan and we know that there's no such thing as an easy game at a World Cup. We're really looking forward to pulling on that gold jersey and doing it proud," Verrell said.Forward Mollie Gray returns to the Wallaroos fold, after injury ruled her out of the tour of New Zealand while young guns Kayla Sauvo and Millie Boyle have earned their trip to Ireland following a stand-out series.Star back Ashleigh Hewson needs just two more points to become the highest-points scorer in Wallaroos history to surpass the tally of former flyer Tricia Brown who scored 65 points.The squad will convene in Sydney at the end of July for a three-day camp, ahead of flying out for Ireland on August 1.The Wallaroos are in Pool C alongside hosts Ireland, as well as France and Japan.

Wallaroos Squad:Millie Boyle, Chloe Butler, Cheyenne Campbell, Rebecca Clough, Mollie Gray, Grace Hamilton, Alisha Hewett, Evelyn Horomia, Kiri Lingman, Hana Ngaha, Shannon Parry, Liz Patu, Emily Robinson, Hilisha Samoa, Alexandra Sulusi, Violeta Tupuola, Katrina Barker, Fenella Hake, Ashleigh Hewson, Nareta Marsters, Mahalia Murphy, Trilleen Pomare, Sarah Riordan, Kayla Sauvao, Huia Swanell, Ashleigh Timoko, Samantha Treherne, Sharni Williams.Australia's squadWallaroos v Ireland at UCD Bowl, Dublin, 10th August, 4am AESTWallaroos v France at UCD Bowl, Dublin, 14th August, 4.45am AESTWallaroos v Japan at Billings Park UCD, Dublin, 18th August, 2am AEST