Head of sport at The Illawarra Grammar School, Tregonning has considerable experience in both junior development and at the elite level.

With a daughter who has featured in the region's representative teams, the teacher has watched closely as women's and girl's rugby has grown in recent times.

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While that momentum has been halted slightly by coronavirus, Tregonning believes participation will continue to rise in the coming years.

"We have some dedicated girls playing up in Sydney on a regular basis, having more of a localised competition for those girls would be good," Tregonning said.

"It doesn't have to be full 15-a-side, but there needs to be a step between the sevens game. It's a totally different game to the XVs now.

"Young people in the region are blessed with opportunities to participate in sport. We want to create opportunities for people who are new to the game. Hopefully we can make rugby the number one choice for girls wanting to play sport."

Tregonning's appointment as leader of the Australian women's XVs side comes after more than a decade of experience.

He was an assistant coach for the team at the 2014 World Cup, while he has also mentored the nation's most talented schoolboys.

Tregonning helped the Australian Under-18 side that snapped a seven-year winless run against New Zealand Schools in 2019.

Having witnessed the surge in popularity of the Australian women's sevens squad following their gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he's hopeful the XVs team can experience a similar trajectory.

"There's an opportunity to get our game out there and get a bit of media attention to promote the game," Tregonning said.

"Strong performances are key to encouraging participation. We saw how the success of the sevens girls in 2016 led to an uptake of girls in rugby.

"Being able to get out and see people at the clubs is also important. I know there's work in place to develop a women's competition locally, I'll be getting out to support that where I can."

Tregonning's appointment comes at a challenging time for women's rugby.

The Wallaroos haven't played a Test since August 2019 due to coronavirus and the path to the World Cup next October is uncertain.

Tregonning, however, has made clear to his team that there will be no excuses for below-par results.

"I was straight-up with the girls, I'm not one for excuses of what we haven't had in regards to preparation,'' he said.

"Everything we do from here is about winning the World Cup, that's our goal. We're not going away just to be part of the tournament, we're going in there with the goal of winning it.

"There are difficult circumstances and we have the Black Ferns in our pool and they're our first game, but you've got to beat the best to be the best."

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