Maddison Levi has defied a knee injury to score a superb double and propel Australia's rugby women to world sevens championship glory in France.
The Aussies defeated their biggest rivals in the last global showdown of the season, downing their great rivals New Zealand 26-19 in the final in Bordeaux, the last leg of the three-tournament world championship series.
Their star player Levi had been injured the previous week when they won the second leg in Valladolid, Spain, and she was kept under wraps for the first two days of competition until Sunday's semi-finals and final.
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The 24-year-old phenomenon, who's again been shortlisted for women's world sevens player of the year, produced a player of the match display in the final, with her two tries and other scores from Heidi Dennis and Faith Nathan guiding the Australians to their third overall title in five years.
Not only did Levi, the team's all-time leading try scorer, speed over for those two tries, but she also saved one, a spectacular chase down and turnover to stop the flying Kiwi Katelyn Vahaakolo from what had looked a surefire second-half score.
Instead, the Aussies were able to go straight back on the attack, and Levi backed up her brilliance, brushing off Kelsey Teneti and powering 60 metres for the match-winning try, her 64th of an incredible season.
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"It's pretty surreal," admitted Levi. "The girls helped me get back and I wouldn't be here without them. We spoke before the game that it's been our most consistent season, and we've been in every final.
"We've beaten an amazing New Zealand side. It's always hard when we play them. No matter even when we beat them, it's always a tough game."
Indeed, there were times during a season when New Zealand and Australia contested nearly all the finals on the nine-tournament global circuit that the Silver Ferns had looked particularly dominant.
But Australia found their best at the right time, with Levi's sister Teagan Levi also enjoying a big tournament and co-captain Bella Nasser coming up trumps with a big defensive play early in the final.
Earlier on Sunday, the Tim Walsh-coached side reached the final with a 21-7 victory over USA in the semis, with tries from Dennis, Madi Ashby and Nasser.
"In the end, our big game players all stepped up and the depth in our program means we have more than one player capable of turning a game at any moment," said Walsh.
"Champions are not stars. Champions are team players that consistently show up and perform even when they don't feel like it.
"Being in Bordeaux we themed this tournament as the 2026 vintage. We visited a vineyard for our jersey presentation and wanted the 2026 vintage to be remembered -- and we've done that."
The overall men's world title went to South Africa, despite being defeated in the semi-finals in Bordeaux by hosts France, who went on to defeat New Zealand 14-5 in the final.
The Australian men ended up fifth in the season's standings, winning their last match of the season 29-0 against Great Britain to claim seventh position in Bordeaux.
The Aussie trio of Maddison Levi, Nasser and men's captain Henry Hutchison were also all named in the 2026 World Series dream team of the year.
