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Hong Kong Sevens 2025: Australia, New Zealand women shine, China in trouble

Australia bolstered by the return of Maddison Levi, who missed the Vancouver leg because of injury

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Australia’s Isabella Nasser in action against Spain on day one of the Sevens. Photo: Sun Yeung

Australia’s women threw down the gauntlet on the first day of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, smashing bottom-of-the-series Spain 54-12 before winning a tough battle against Canada 26-15.

The green and gold were bolstered by the return of Maddison Levi, who missed the Vancouver leg because of injury, as the 23-year-old scored a hat-trick against Spain before getting four more against Canada.

But Australia’s biggest rivals, reigning Hong Kong Sevens champions New Zealand, kicked off their hunt for their fourth consecutive city title by dismantling China and Brazil on Friday.

“We knew that Spain was going to come out firing, so to put on 50 points was good,” Australia captain Isabella Nasser said. “We’ve got some things to fix up, but overall, it’s really good.”

Australia sit second overall in the HSBC SVNS series rankings, six points behind the Black Ferns.

New Zealand’s Michaela Brake runs to score another try against Ireland. Photo: AFP
New Zealand’s Michaela Brake runs to score another try against Ireland. Photo: AFP

“We pride ourselves on being process driven in our team, so we don’t focus on the outcome [but] getting better every game and every day of training”, she said.

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