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Unbeaten Australia claim gold at Oceania Sevens
By AAP
Former Wallaby Lote Tuqiri has described Maddison Levi as a “weapon” after she led Australia to title glory at the Oceania 7s in Brisbane.
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Levi scored eight tries across the three-day event as the Australian women’s team posted four wins and a draw against a strong NZ Development squad before beating Fiji 26-0 in the Oceania gold medal match on Sunday night.
The former Gold Coast AFLW player scored two tries against Fiji in the decider, with her bursting runs proving too much to handle.
Her hot form is a good sign for Australia heading into the new-look Rugby Sevens season, starting in Dubai in December, and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“She’s a weapon,” Tuqiri told Stan.
“Being an ex-winger myself, all she needs is one metre, two metres of space and she’s gone.
“She’s an amazing athlete. They need her to be fit and healthy going into the season proper, and come Paris next year.”
The Australian men were already out of the running to win the Oceania bragging rights after losing to Fiji and New Zealand on Saturday.
But they ensured their tournament finished on a high, thrashing the Cook Islands 47-0 on Sunday to secure seventh spot.
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New Zealand were crowned the Oceania men’s champions after beating Samoa 24-19 in a final that went to golden point.
The Oceania 7s involved 25 teams from across the Pacific for 66 matches (35 men’s and 31 women’s) over three days.
For some nations, Olympic qualification was up for grabs.
For other nations like Australia, it was a final tune-up before the season-opening Sevens event in Dubai next month.
The Fiji women’s side secured a berth for the Paris Games by thrashing Papua New Guinea 54-0 in the Olympic qualification final.
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The Samoa men’s side also booked their ticket to Paris with a 31-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the men’s Olympic qualification decider.
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The writer here ignores the fact that, following on from not taking the penalty kick, the All Blacks did manage to score a try a few minutes later. Not directly from the penalty awarded, but it is speculation to say that had they opted to take the koi they would have won. Even if they kicked it, which was no guarantee, they would still be trailing and would have had to start again at half-way.
Go to commentsI would be surprised if Sales Opoku Fordjour and Northampton’s Tommy Freeman are not in the team, Anthony Watson is also one that could go on the wing. One thing I must say is that the front 3 will get destroyed against a team like South Africa.
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