Australian prop Caitlan Johnston has described making her Jillaroos debut in front of her father and grandfather in the north of England as an "amazing" career highlight.
Johnston, who was 18th woman when the Jillaroos last played a Test in late 2019, started and played 54 minutes in Australia's 74-0 win over Cooks Islands on Thursday (AEDT).
The Windale Eagles junior scored the second of her side's 14 tries as Australia romped to victory in their World Cup opener.
"It was amazing, it was a bit of a shock," Johnston, 21, told the Newcastle Herald.
"To actually become a Jillaroo now, I won't take that one for granted.
"I'm very grateful for it and hopefully plenty more games to come."
Johnston was ecstatic to have her father and grandfather in the stands to see her debut at LNER Community Stadium in York.
The pair have made the trip over for the duration of the Women's World Cup.
"Dad and my grandfather travelled from Newcastle and it's my dad's first time travelling overseas, especially with pop," she said.
"But he was stoked to be there and loved every moment of it. To see his daughter debut in the Australian jersey was amazing.
"And one of the things I did say to dad was, I thought it was so cool my name was on the back of a jersey, especially an Australian one.
"I enjoyed every moment of it."
Johnston was shocked to cross for a try from close range so early in the tournament, let alone in the eighth minute of the game.
"I didn't think I was going to score. All my family was like, 'score a try, score a try!'," she said. "I'm just so humbled to be in the team but to take a meat pie was just even better. I saw the gap, how far the girl was from the post and just made the late call. I was stoked."
A mainstay of Newcastle's NRLW premiership, Johnston appears set to feature prominently in Australia's World Cup campaign.
She said coach Brad Donald had kept his message simple to both her and the team ahead of the Cook Islands clash.
"As a forward to do what we're expected to do and take those tough carries up the middle," she said. "Our three key things were to be tough in the middle, be resilient and just keep turning up for each other."
Despite the runaway win, Johnston believes Australia still have plenty of improvement left in them. They face France on Monday at 6.30am (AEDT) before New Zealand late next week in their last pool game.
