Rugby Australia Appoints Tim Walsh Director of Women’s High-Performance

Tim Walsh has been appointed Rugby Australia's director of women's high-performance, Abc reported. He will oversee both the Wallaroos and sevens programs and begin the role next month. Walsh represented Australia in an under-19 international against New Zealand in 1998.

With five seconds left and Australia trailing by one point, he kicked a 48-metre field goal to win 25-23 in Christchurch. As coach of the Australian women's sevens squad, Walsh led the team to Olympic gold, Commonwealth Games gold, and a World Championship title. He is stepping down from the sevens coaching position.

Rugby Australia plans to transition the Wallaroos into a full-time program later this year. The Wallaroos are ranked ninth in the world and reached the quarterfinals of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup hosted by England, which won the tournament. Australia is hosting the 2029 Women's Rugby World Cup.

The Wallaroos currently have no permanent head coach, and Walsh will be involved in filling the position. "When you have a program where you're full-time, you can do that at an accelerated rate," Walsh said. " Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said it "will be a sprint" to prepare the Wallaroos for 2029.

Walsh coached the sevens program when it became fully professional in 2014, a step that preceded Australia's gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. "The next three years will be pretty critical and there will be different benchmarks and measurements along the way to make sure we are hitting targets," Walsh said.

Sevens player Teagan Levi announced last month that she was joining the Gold Coast Titans.

Rugby Australia president Kristy Giteau said visibility would help attract new fans. "You can't be what you can't see, and visibility is going to become our best friend come 2029," Giteau said. "I think it (winning the World Cup) is possible," Walsh said.