Australia's players celebrate on the podium. — AFP
The Middle East’s largest sports and entertainment event, the Emirates Dubai 7s, concluded on Sunday with memorable victories for Fiji's men's team and Australia's women's team in the inaugural leg of the HSBC SVNS 2025 Series. Fiji triumphed over Spain 19-5 to secure the men’s trophy, marking their first SVNS tournament win since 2022 and their first in Dubai since 2016. Argentina secured the men’s bronze medals with a dominant 14-0 victory against New Zealand.
Australia achieved an impressive fifth consecutive women’s tournament win in Dubai, but it was a hard-fought battle in the final against Olympic champions New Zealand, ending 28-24. France secured the women’s bronze medals by defeating Great Britain 15-12. Maddison Levi scored a dramatic 75-metre intercept try, giving Australia a 28-24 victory over New Zealand and breaking Portia Woodman-Wickliffe's single-tournament try record.
The newly crowned World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year had scored 14 times en route to the final, and her 15th try in the last minute was crucial for Australia's new season start. Captain Bella Nasser expressed pride in her team's performance, highlighting the young players' contributions and looking forward to the rest of the season.
Levi scored 37 tries last year as Australia finished as runners-up to New Zealand in the World Series. Despite her 14 tries at the Paris Olympics, she did not win a medal. Woodman-Wickliffe, who retired after winning a second Olympic gold with New Zealand in Paris, scored 14 tries at the US tournament in the 2014-15 season and remains the most prolific try-scorer in the Women's World Series with 256.
The three-day festival concluded with British star Stormzy performing at the Frequency on 8 stage, delighting a crowd of over 25,000. The weekend featured a diverse lineup of artists and DJs across three stages, including headliners Sugababes and performances by Artful Dodger and Nathan Dawe.
In addition to the HSBC SVNS action, the festival hosted invitational rugby, netball, cricket, padel tennis, and fitness tournaments, attracting teams from around the world. This year saw the highest number of teams competing for the coveted Dubai 7s trophies.
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