DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A remarkable 90-meter intercept attempt by Maddison Levi, the women’s sevens player of the year, secured Australia’s fifth consecutive title at the Dubai tournament, with a nail-biting 28-24 victory over their longstanding rivals, New Zealand, in the final on Sunday.
Australia’s triumph came despite New Zealand scoring four tries against them, while the Australians had only allowed two tries leading up to the championship match.
In the men’s competition, Fiji’s team ended a lengthy title drought of 21 tournaments over two and a half years by defeating Spain, who were the unexpected finalists, with a score of 19-5.
Over the years, Australia and New Zealand have set the standard in women’s sevens rugby, being the only teams to clinch Olympic Games medals, World Cups, or titles in the world series. Their rivalry continued in the desert, with this being their third consecutive final in Dubai, and it proved to be as thrilling as ever.
Australia surged ahead with quick tries from Faith Nathan and Teagan Levi, establishing a 14-0 lead. However, New Zealand responded with scores from Jorja Miller and Risi Pouri-Lane, narrowing the gap to 14-12.
Just before halftime, Bella Nasser, the newly appointed Australian captain, executed a clever show-and-go, sprinting from deep within her territory to score, pushing Australia to a 21-12 lead.
New Zealand, however, wasn’t ready to back down. They quickly answered back with tries from Theresa Setefano and Manaia Nuku, taking the lead at 24-22.
In a turning point with two minutes remaining, Levi, who had been tightly marked throughout the game, managed to pick off a pass just 10 meters from her own try-line. She dashed away to secure the victory with her decisive score.
This marked Levi’s 15th try of the tournament, setting a women’s single-tournament record in the series, surpassing the previous record of 14 set by New Zealand’s Portia Woodman-Wickliffe back in 2015 in Atlanta.
A key factor in Australia’s success was the accuracy of Tia Hinds and Teagan Levi, who converted four tries, while New Zealand managed to convert only two of their four scoring opportunities.
On the men’s side, Spain made history by reaching their first-ever world series final after conquering Britain in the quarterfinals and defeating New Zealand in the semifinals. Notably, New Zealand ended a four-season winning streak for South Africa in Dubai during earlier rounds.
Spain started strong in the final with an initial try by Pol Pla, set up by a back-pass from Manu Moreno. However, they faced setbacks with two knock-ons near the try-line and an exceptional tackle by Fiji’s Filipe Sauturaga, which ultimately proved costly.
Sauturaga turned the tide by evading a tackle to tie the game at halftime. Fiji then pulled ahead in the second half, with Jeremaia Matana scoring after fending off two defenders. Viwa Naduvalo followed up with a powerful run, allowing substitute Ilikimi Vunaki to score the final try easily behind the posts.
Fiji’s previous tournament victory was in May 2022 at Toulouse, and they had struggled throughout the last two seasons, remaining without a win in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 series. Their last triumph in Dubai was back in 2015.
“It’s been a long time coming, a two-year wait,” said an emotional Fiji coach Osea Kolinisau. “I’m thrilled we’ve finally lifted that burden off our shoulders. We have worked incredibly hard over the past six months and faced disappointment at the Olympics when we lost the final to France, but I always reminded the boys that hard work pays off—and it certainly did here.”
