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Maddison Levi and Eva Karpani receive accolades at Rugby Australia Awards

Credit: Brendan Hertel/RugbyAU

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

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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.

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“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.”

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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.

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“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.

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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.

 

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Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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