Reigning World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi is one of nine SVNS Series stars who have committed to Super Rugby Women’s clubs in a bid to secure a spot in the Wallaroo’s 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup squad.
Rugby Australia has announced that some of the biggest names in rugby sevens will switch to 15s, starting next week with pre-season training. The nine players named will look to make the most of a gap in this season’s HSBC SVNS Series schedule to play 15s rugby.
Maddison Levi has linked with the Queensland Reds alongside younger sister Teagan and three-time Olympian Charlotte Caslick. Before the sevens season, Caslick had revealed to RugbyPass and rugby.com.au that the Reds was the “only” club she wanted to play for in 15s.
All three women are among the sport’s elite at the moment, with Maddison Levi standing out as the world’s best player at the moment. The 22-year-old started the SVNS season in record-breaking form with 15 tries in two days in Dubai, including the match-winner in the Final.
Newly-appointed sevens captain Isabella Nasser and Olympian Khali Henwood will also join the Reds, while Sariah Paki will wear the famed sky blue jersey of the New South Wales Waratahs, who are the defending Super Rugby Women’s champions.
Demi Hayes and Tia Hinds are bound for the ACT Brumbies, and they’ll be joined by powerful winger Bienne Terita who scored a double on debut for the Wallaroos in 2022. Australia coach at the time, Jay Tregonning, described the youngster as a “world-class” player in both sevens and 15s.
It’s understood that these Wallaroos hopefuls will look to play in at least two rounds of Super Rugby Women’s during a four-week break in March between SVNS Series stops in Vancouver and Hong Kong China.
“A key aspect of Rugby Australia’s High Performance strategy is the effective integration and alignment of the women’s sevens and XVs programs,” General Manager Women’s High Performance, Jaime Fernandez, said in a statement.
“The ability to play multiple formats of the game is a unique and special opportunity, as is representing one’s country in some of the biggest sporting events in the world – the Olympic Games and a Rugby World Cup.
“Working to the respective schedules and with a view to increasing player depth and strengthening our talent pool, we aim to have the best players available and competing at world events annually.
“With the alignment of women’s rugby in a more formal sense, we are moving into a new and exciting era for the sport in Australia as we prepare for the largest Women’s Rugby World Cup in history.”
Sevens coach Tim Walsh and Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp are in agreement that this is a positive step forward for the growth of women’s rugby in Australia. The two rugby gurus met about the possibility of players switching to 15s, with Yapp “really pleased” with the interest shown.
Towards the end of Yapp’s first year in charge of the Wallaroos, the women in gold showed genuine signs of improvement during a title-winning run at WXV 2. Australia had finished last in World Rugby’s Pacific Four Series but seemed to take the learnings on board that season.
Australia got the better of Wales in a one-sided win at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium to open their account in the second-tier WXV competition. They backed that up with another triumph over tournament hosts South Africa, and that set up a grandstand finish for silverware.
Scotland were also undefeated going into the third and final round, but the Aussies stood tall as the only side to remain unbeaten. Captain Michaela Leonard lifted the WXV 2 trophy that night in the Western Cape, with the team looking to improve further before the World Cup in England.
“Individualised performance modelling is the key to both programs delivering sustained success,” Women’s Sevens head coach Walsh explained.
“It will need to be a carefully planned and well executed strategy, and done well will provide a competitive advantage for the immediate future and the long-term leading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and a home Rugby World Cup in 2029.”
Wallaroos head coach Jo Yapp added: “After Tim and I met collectively with players from our sevens program, we were really pleased with how many have put their hands up.
“Super Rugby Women’s will offer invaluable game time and experience for each player.
“It is an immense honour to pull on the Wallaroos jersey and we need to ensure that all players are given the opportunity to prove themselves whilst keeping our team values at the heart of everything we do.”
