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          The 'Kid' is alright: Teenage star Caitlyn Halse could be face of Australian women's rugby for the next 15 years

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          Abby Dow's crazy story about her 2025 World Cup call-up (1:05)

          You won't believe where England's Abby Dow was when she got her call-up for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup squad. (1:05)

          • Brittany Mitchell, ESPN Assistant EditorSep 5, 2025, 11:28 AM
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              Brittany Mitchell has been a sports fan from an early age, with a keen interest in netball, cricket and rugby. Brittany interned at Rugby Magazine and the Australian Rugby Union before joining ESPN.
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          At just 18 years old, Caitlyn Halse has the rugby world at her feet.

          With her cutting runs, booming kick and knowledge of the game, the Wallaroos fullback has captured the world's attention. And she's only getting better.

          She became Australia's youngest player to make their Rugby World Cup debut when she ran out against Samoa two weeks ago and already has four tries to her name, ranking her fifth on the tournament's top try scorers list, while a moment of brilliance against the USA last weekend highlighted the star's immense talent.

          Swinging around the back of the ruck, she managed to cling onto a floating pass just in front of her, throwing a dummy, she spotted the gap and sliced through to dive over. It was quickly followed by her signature "are you not entertained?" try celebration pose.

          Yes, Caitlyn, we definitely are entertained.

          As a child -- which was only a few years ago -- Halse was earmarked to be a rugby star thanks to her dad's tireless efforts erecting a set of goal posts in her backyard and drawing a figure man on their wooden fence for the fullback to throw endless passes at.

          At 16 years and 187 days old she made her Super Rugby Women's debut for the NSW Waratahs -- breaking James O'Connor's longstanding record of being the youngest Super Rugby debutant at 17 in the process. A year later she made her Wallaroos debut against the USA, becoming the youngest ever Australian Test player, male or female, at 17 years and 242 days.

          There's a sense Halse was always bound to make Australian rugby history.

          Nominated for World Rugby's breakthrough player of the year award for her dominant performances in WXV2 last year, she fell short to Ireland's Erin King, but in the span of 12 months has managed to take her game to a whole new level.

          Her booming kick -- a feature she highlights as her biggest strength -- while not always accurate, is something not often seen in the women's game and is a huge advantage for the Wallaroos who constantly look to chew up metres when finding touch. While her ability to read the game and manipulate defensive lines has been essential for the youthful side's quest to advance to the knockout stages.

          "I think one of my strengths would definitely be my kicking," Halse told media. "I think I've got a pretty good long kicking game. Also my vision -- I am good at counting numbers, reading defence and attack. But I think I've got a lot to work on, speed being one of them. My kicking can still get better. It's good, but there are always things I can improve on, whether it's my follow-through, or the technique in which I kick the ball.

          "I definitely think the fullback position is ever evolving. There are a lot more fullbacks that have the run/kick/pass game, whereas a couple of years ago they might have only had the run/pass, and not the kicking. It's only going to get better and better with the more rugby and high intensity games we get to play."

          Despite finding herself on the biggest of stages, the fullback hasn't allowed the moment to over awe her, instead basking in the pressure and continuing to play with a sense of calm and confidence not often associated with that of a teenager.

          "She's actually really calm, a really calm girl," teammate Michaela Leonard told the "Kick offs and Kick ons" podcast.

          "She's grown up a heap in the last few years, but I think she's just starting to find her voice, she's really confident in what she wants and how she wants to play and she's communicating it well.

          "I love this celebration she's got going, this 'are you not entertained?'"

          Meanwhile, she's continued to keep herself grounded as the pressure builds up a notch ahead of this weekend's World Cup-defining clash against England, which could determine whether the Wallaroos reach the quarterfinals, or find themselves on the next flight back to Australia.

          "I've grown up wanting to play on the international stage. It's meant to be an almost sold-out crowd of 30,000 people [in Brighton on Saturday], and I don't think I've ever played in front of so many people before. I'll try to feed off the crowd's energy and get myself pumped up.

          "I try not to think about the pressure of the game too much. A couple of the girls in the group keep me humble. I try not to focus too much on the pressure and just go out and do what I do best."

          What is perhaps the most astounding part of it all, the teenager could feature at the next four World Cups, all the way through to the 2041 -- she'll be 34 by then -- and with that become the face of women's rugby in Australia and around the world. If NRLW don't lure her away in the meantime.

          But for now, the focus remains on this World Cup and a four-try bonus point that will secure Australia's passage through to the quarterfinals.