Rugby Australia offered to pay for the Irish women's team to come to Australia except for the cost of flight but it was turned down.

The three-test doubleheader would've seen Ireland face the Wallaroos at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane this Saturday before AAMI Park in Melbourne on June 16th and Allianz Stadium in Sydney on June 23rd.

The Irish Times reported Australian Women’s Rugby president Josephine Sukkar confirmed she had proposed the Test series, which would have been played before the men’s games, and even offered to cover the Ireland squad’s accommodation.

“Certainly we invited them because that’s the way we are looking to go forward, as the governing body, giving our women the same opportunities as our men,” Sukkar told the Irish Times.

In response, an IRFU spokesperson said:

“When the offer came we’d already decided to focus on November fixtures to build to the Six Nations.”

Rugby Australia had been trying to organise games for the Wallaroos ahead of their historic double-header against New Zealand next month.

The announcement of IRFU declining the offer from Rugby Australia has sparked frustration from those on social media:

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