Wallaroos captain Grace Hamilton is a country girl at heart and this Saturday she'll have a special honour at Newcastle's No.2 Sportsground.
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Not only will the 27-year-old play a rare women's rugby Test outside capital cities, it marks her first match leading out the Australian team.
Skippering her national sporting side is a moment not lost on Hamilton, who visited Blackbutt Reserve on Monday with some of her Japanese opponents.
"It will be good, woah, I'm getting emotional [just thinking about it]," Hamilton said.
"I don't know what it's going to feel like, but I just can't wait to get out there. This jersey means so much to me and my family and everyone who has supported me."
With most of the Wallaroos' home Tests played in Sydney, Hamilton said it was a significant step taking an international fixture to a regional area and helps tap into a "depth" of talent.
"It's lovely. I'm from Orange and I spent a lot of time in Newcastle so for me, bringing a Test match to Newcastle just broadens the horizon for girls out in the country," she said.
"Girls who come to our game on Saturday will be like 'I want to be there one day' and I hope they are because country girls are good girls to have in the team."
Australia have met first-time visitors Japan only once before, during the 2017 World Cup in Ireland.
The Wallaroos beat the Cherry Blossoms 21-15 in Dublin.
"Japan are tough and in the World Cup they came at us," Hamilton said.
"I remember standing behind the goal posts saying we need to stick to our structures and we need to come out firing because they are very structured and they will come at us."
Japan have not played a Test since the international tournament two years ago and Cherry Blossoms captain Saki Minami said her squad was not only looking forward to getting back on the field but also trying to reverse the result against Australia.
"This will be our first match since the 2017 World Cup, playing against an international side, so we are very excited to play again and have been preparing well," Minami said.
"We lost at the World Cup, but we are trying to beat the Wallaroos this time."
Australia and Japan will meet once more next Friday (July 25) at North Sydney Oval. The Wallaroos also have a two-Test series against New Zealand next month, starting in Perth and finishing in Auckland.
This marks the most Tests played by Australia in a season outside a World Cup.
Next year the seventh-ranked Wallaroos are locked into the World Rugby's Women's Rugby Super Series in San Diego.
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