Rugby sevens superstar Maddi Levi has a peerless knack for scoring tries but it is how she inspires off the field that has an even greater impact.
The tall, athletic winger has been doing her normal thing in the steamy heat of Perth in the HSBC SVNS.
A superb hat-trick against France in the Australian team’s final pool match on Saturday was all polish to an excellent team display for the 40-5 win.
That’s seven tries in three games for Levi, who is highly motivated here this year after playing just six minutes at last year’s Perth stop because of a carry-over red card and another earnt in the tournament itself.
The temperature was a roasting 28 degrees Celsius at full-time yet Levi (pictured top right) still found time to sign autographs and pose for numerous photos as the team headed to a recovery session.
The young, impressionable faces that lit up each time were gold. That’s the pure Power of Sport right there.
Young Melia Molino, 9, was one such lucky fan (wearing the gold Wallabies cap in our main photo). She is the only girl playing in her Under-10s team at Cottesloe Rugby Club in Perth.
She plays because of role models like Levi and her favourite, Faith Nathan, the speedster who scored a 90m try of her own against France.
“I like Maddi because she’s fast, she’s tall and she’s nice,” Melia said as only a youngster can.
“I like all the players but Faith is my favourite. I want to play sevens one day.”
For Bridie Guatta, see youngsters like Melia enjoying a first-hand meeting with players has real meaning.
“When I was playing at Cottesloe in my younger days, we’d often only have 10 or 11 players-a-side for a women’s game. To now see kids having role models in women’s rugby is really important,” Guatta said.
The Australians have had an undefeated springboard into Saturday night’s quarter-final against Japan, high performers at this tournament with an upset win over 2024 Perth champions Ireland.
The Australians got their home tournament underway in style on Friday with two resounding pool wins over China (31-7) and Spain (43-0).
The girls in gold scored 18 tries in their three pool games but it was the manner of their win over France that really mattered.
The physical French had beaten the Aussies 17-14 in the play-off for third at the Cape Town SVNS in December.
“Playing more than six minutes (in Perth) was one of my goals,” Levi said with a laugh.
“We did start really well against France. To go to the game plan and actually play disciplined and execute the little things was really positive.
“We know we can do that against a good team like France. It’s when we make silly errors that it can cost us.
“We didn’t shy away from the physical battles against them but we played our game.”
Levi spoke of the “little things.” Just three were the Australians tapped back three early kick-offs to feed their possession advantage, Levi’s sister Teagan putting Maddi away for a try with a deft short pass on the sideline with a French defender zeroing in at her and this from Demi Hayes.
In the second half, Hayes made excellent ground to pull off a try-saving tackle. The turnover ball became the opportunity for Nathan to dash 90m for a counter-attack try.
ISPS HANDA’s continued sponsorship of the Australian women’s rugby sevens team for a third year is wonderful recognition of what Levi and her teammates are inspiring because rugby sevens is one of the biggest growth areas in Australia amongst the women’s Olympic sports.
