Maddison Levi and Eva Karpani receive accolades at Rugby Australia Awards

Maddi Levi and Eva Karpani have been recognised for their standout performances last year at the Rugby Australia Awards in Sydney this week.

Sevens superstar Levi was presented with the Shawn Mackay Award for Women’s Sevens Player of the Year after a year in which she was a key asset in securing Paris 2024 qualification, scoring a record 57 tries in the 2022/23 season along the way.

In addition, she was also a nominee for World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year last year.

Levi said after receiving the award in Sydney: “It was a pretty exciting year for me. I guess I’ve just grown as a player and an athlete and I continue to build on that so to top it off with those accolades, it just shows how hard that I am working off the field. Once again I probably couldn’t have done it without the girls beside me, they set me up and make my job look a lot easier than it is.

“We work so hard on that strength and power and speed so those skills I’m just building on as a player which makes it easier to take the outside. That’s something I’ve always had, the ability to back myself on the outside and then if all else fails I can carry strong. Whilst building that speed and power I can continue to build on my game.”

The 21-year-old also reflected on the 2023/24 HSBC SVNS series so far which has seen her team secure victories in the first two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town.

Despite opening-round elation, two red cards for dangerous tackles have seen Levi sidelined for portions of the games that followed.

She said: “It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Dubai and Cape Town were such unreal tournaments for me and I just showcased what I had been working on in pre-season. Two little setbacks, but as I said I’ve got the girls who are like my sisters beside me and they’ve helped me deal with it and they came out and absolutely smashed Perth facing so much adversity and Walshy [Tim Walsh] as well.

“It’s good because I’ve got something to work on, tackle technique is definitely a main focus of my training now. I guess it’s the highs and lows of sport, and you’ve got to experience them all. Last year was so good, so a little bit of adversity now but I’ll be back better than ever.”

Fellow countrywoman Karpani was awarded Wallaroos Player of the Year for the first time after a breakthrough year.

The barnstorming tighthead prop scored three tries in Australia’s memorable victory over France and contributed a magnificent solo try against Wales in the inaugural WXV 1 tournament last October and November.

In addition, she started all eight Tests in 2023 and was named in the top five for carries for any player during WXV 1.

“To be honest, I was just happy to be here, happy to be with the girls and to reunite after a year. I don’t think an award really shows how much the team has done in this past year so I’m genuinely humbled and grateful,” the award winner said.

“Because of the players who have come before us, we’ve been able to build to where we are now. We’ve learned a lot along the way and with the senior team we have now, I have strong hope in them to enable us to have a a stronger connection for the upcoming years.

“I’d love to change the image of a tighthead prop that we can be versatile and agile, not just a powerful ball runner,” she added.

After some stellar results in 2023 for Australia’s women’s teams, this year stands as vital preparation for 15s teams globally in the build-up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

“I have so much confidence in this team and it’s going to be hard work but I have all the confidence in the world for us to build in a pre-World Cup year,” Karpani said.

“What got us there [beating France] firstly was belief but after the game we had against France it was just a lot of backing even more. We had our supporters backing us since day one but it was just an electric feeling in the changing rooms afterwards. It was exciting to see genuinely what we could do in this year [before RWC2025].

With the Pacific Four Series fast approaching and Jo Yapp now in place as the Wallaroos’ new head coach, Karpani also looks forward to learning from the former England captain’s experience as a player and a coach.

“She brings experience as she was a player for England. She has captained her country. It would be nice to gain knowledge from her as a player,” she added.

From the men’s teams, Henry Paterson was awarded the Shawn Mackay Award for Men’s Sevens Player of the Year, and Rob Valetini won the John Eales Medal to complete the major awards.