Soon: We don’t fear New Zealand.

Australia have been drawn in a pool for this years World Cup with the world champion Black Ferns as well as South Africa and current Triple Crown holders Wales.

Writing in a blog this week for the IRB Soon said:

We have been drawn in the same pool at the World Cup as three-time defending champions New Zealand, but I think with New Zealand you have not got to look at it like they are the world champions, they are just players and you have not got to let them intimidate you.

It does give us a little bit of confidence that we have beaten them three times in 7s, including the World Cup final, but 7s is completely different. However, it does give us a sense of belief that they are beatable and we believe we can beat the best. They are world champions in fifteens as we are in 7s.

Australia have not yet confirmed any warm-up games for the World Cup though many of the squad will compete in 7s competitions in the coming months.

If the nations 7s players can successfully transfer their skills then Soon could be in the historic position of winning World Cup titles at both 7s and 15s.

We have the chance to unite both the 7s and 15-a-side World Cups for the first time ever and to achieve that would be absolutely phenomenal. I think I'd hang up the boots after that! Oh my God, to achieve something of that magnitude, she said.

It is definitely achievable. It just comes down to the collective team effort and hunger and passion and desire. You need to have all those things in the mix and if everybody thinks like that, strives for that, then that is definitely something achievable.

Soon will travel to Hong Kong this month with the Aussie Amazons side made up of a host of national team players. There they will face a number of international teams including Hong Kong, China and Thailand.

We've had to fund the trip ourselves because unfortunately there is no funding at the moment, but we just want to play rugby, we want to go there and defend our title. It is all about the hunger, the desire and passion and our love for the game.

The full blog is available