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Maddison Levi headlines Australia’s most inexperienced squad in 10 years
By Finn Morton
HSBC SVNS Series try-scoring machine Maddison Levi will be back in Aussie gold at this month’s highly-anticipated Hong Kong Sevens, with the reigning World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year bolstering an otherwise historically inexperienced squad.
“True Gold does not fear the flame” is the Australian side’s mantra ahead of the SVNS Series event at the all-new home Kai Tak Stadium on March 28-30, with coach Tim Walsh selecting a squad with the least number of total caps in a decade.
Levi and Sariah Paki are both back in the mix after spending some time on the sidelines, while Queensland product Amahli Hala is in line to debut. Queanbeyan-born Hala was a standout during the Next Gen Sevens and will become the fifth debutant used by Walsh this season.
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Six Aussies are unavailable for the event, including SVNS Perth’s Player of the Final Haidi Dennis who has suffered a knee injury but will return for the World Championship in May. Demi Hayes is also out after undergoing surgery on an injured hand.
Three-time Olympian Charlotte Caslick and Bienne Terita have both turned their focus to 15s for the rest of the year, having committed to the Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies respectively in a bid to play for the Wallaroos at the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The Aussies will take on Spain, Canada and Japan in pool play. They are looking to go one better this time around after falling short in the Cup Final in 2023 before missing the big dance altogether last time out at the old venue, Hong Kong Stadium.
“A revamped Hong Kong Sevens awaits us with a new stadium, and another iconic location,” Walsh said in a statement.
“We are fielding our youngest team in our history, our least number of total caps since 2015 [the World Series began in 2012] and have had our most disruptive preparation ever.
“A perfect storm for an Aussie Sevens performance demonstrating character and resilience.
“As we are heading into China we are embracing ancient Chinese wisdom to prepare ourselves for the challenge ahead. ‘True Gold does not fear the flame’ is our mantra.”
As the men’s side, they have gone with a much more settled squad for the second-last regular season leg of the season. Teenager Hadley Tonga returns to the 13-man group, having debuted in Perth before missing selection for Vancouver.
Michael Icely has been ruled out with a knee injury.
Three-time Olympian Henry Hutchison shares captaincy duties with Henry Paterson, while the likes of Maurice Longbottom, James Turner, Aden Ekanayake, and Matt Gonzalez have also been named in a squad with some proven SVNS Series stars.
They have been drawn in a mighty-tough pool with arch-rivals New Zealand, a familiar foe in South Africa, and giant-slayers Uruguay who beat both Fiji and the All Blacks Sevens at SVNS Perth in January.
“Hong Kong is the original and legacy event and in a new stadium under the roof on day one we’re pumped for the occasion,” men’s coach Liam Barry explained.
“Some of the players were quite crook in Vancouver, we had a few boys get off their beds to play so it was a fair effort and I thought we played better in Vancouver than we did in Perth.
“We want to maintain our position on the standings, move forward and keep improving in areas we have done so throughout the season.”
Australian Women's Sevens side for Hong Kong Sevens
1. Piper Simons
2. Amahli Hala*
3. Faith Nathan
4. Mackenzie Davis
5. Teagan Levi
9. Tia Hinds
10. Isabella Nasser (c)
12. Maddison Levi
14. Bridget Clark
15. Kahli Henwood
23. Ruby Nicholas
28. Kiiahla Duff
65. Sariah Paki
*denotes debut
Australian Men's Sevens side for Hong Kong Sevens
1. Henry Hutchison (c)
2. Ben Dowling
6. Henry Paterson (c)
9. Matt Gonzalez
10. Ben Dalton
11. Maurice Longbottom
13. Jayden Blake
14. James Turner
15. Sid Harvey
23. Aden Ekanayake
25. Hayden Sargeant
29. Josh Turner
71. Hadley Tonga
Unavailable for selection due to injury
AUSTRALIA WOMEN
Heidi Dennis (knee) – Los Angeles 7s
Demi Hayes (hand) – Los Angeles 7s
Madison Ashby (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Kaitlin Shave (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Sidney Taylor (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea (knee) - 2025/2026 World Series
AUSTRALIA MEN
Michael Icely (knee) – Los Angeles 7s
Dietrich Roache (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
HSBC SVNS 2024/2025 HONG KONG SCHEDULE
AUSTRALIA WOMEN - POOL C
- Friday, March 28: Australia v Spain – 1:53pm AEDT
- Friday, March 28: Australia v Canada – 4:57pm AEDT
- Saturday, March 29: Australia v Japan – 12:53pm AEDT
AUSTRALIA MEN - POOL B
- Friday, March 28: Australia v New Zealand – 8:30pm AEDT
- Friday, March 28: Australia v South Africa – 11:39pm AEDT
- Saturday, March 29: Australia v Uruguay – 4:20pm AEDT
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Go to commentsMZ: He surprised me in the Reds game where he started a 8. I think he was replaced by Gleeson in the 2nd half and the Tahs gained nothing I could see. Not sure what we are going to do with him but, IF he continues over the next couple of years he will be hard to keep out of any side.
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