World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi will take no further part in SVNS Perth after suffering a thumb injury on Saturday evening. Levi had been front and centre for the Aussies during their home event, with the SVNS Series phenomenon scoring nine tries.
Levi, 22, started steadily with just one try in a 31-7 win over China on day one before recording back-to-back hat-tricks against Spain and France. The two-time Olympian also crossed for a double during a big 35-nil win over Japan, but that performance has come at a cost.
As revealed on the HSBC SVNS Series broadcast, Levi will not suit up for Australia on the final day at HBF Park. It’s been reported that Australia’s try-scoring machine suffered the devastating injury during the comprehensive win over the Japanese on Saturday evening.
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Unfortunately for Australia, the bad news doesn’t stop there with fellow speedster Faith Nathan also set to miss game time. Levi and Nathan have been key players for this Australian outfit for quite some time now, so this news comes as a costly blow to their title hopes.
“We’re moving on soon to the big games today… it’ll be the Cup semi-finals coming up and in the women’s competition, first up, it’s going to be the Black Ferns Sevens against France,” commentator Rupert Cox said on the broadcast.
“After that it will be the hosts, Australia, who got beaten in the final here last year, they want to go one better. They’re up against Canada in their semi-final who are very much in form.
“There is some breaking news to bring you here. In the quarter-final, Maddi Levi, in this incident here, broke her thumb we understand… she is out of finals day, she will not play. She actually finished that match but she had an x-ray this morning, and found a fracture.
“She’ll play no further part so that’s a disappointment for Australia.
“The other news is the other winger, the try-scoring expert Faith Nathan is also not named for that semi-final, so a couple of big, big names missing for the Aussie sevens.”
At the time of writing, Australia are preparing to play Canada in a blockbuster semi-final, while France will meet New Zealand on the other side of the women’s draw. The Canadians beat Australia in the Olympic semi-finals last year, so they pose a very real threat.
Khali Henwood, Demi Hayes, Heidi Dennis, Teagan Levi, Charlotte Caslick, captain Isabella Nasser and Tia Hinds have been named in the starting side according to the SVNS Series website, while they only have four substitutes.
Ruby Nicholas, MacKenzie Davis, Kiiahla Duff and Piper Simons will look to provide impact off the bench as the Australian look to match it with a confident Canadian outfit that includes the likes of Piper Logan, Olivia Apps and Carissa Norsten.
