Dubai Sevens pools confirmed with heavyweight clashes to kick off season

Reigning HSBC SVNS World Championship winners Australia have been handed a difficult pool draw ahead of the Dubai Sevens, with the new season getting underway at The Sevens Stadium on November 28 to 29.

New Zealand were dominant throughout the HSBC SVNS Series regular season in 2025/26, as they took out five regular season stops. But the Aussies saved some of their best performances for the World Championship Series, winning in Valladolid and Bordeaux.

The entire season came down to one final clash between Australia and New Zealand, who were level on the World Championship standings going into Bordeaux, but some Maddison Levi magic proved to be the difference.

Australia begin their quest for the SVNS Series regular season crown with group-stage fixtures against the USA, France and Spain. The USA are currently in New Zealand, as they prepare for an informal two-day invitational tournament in Mount Maunganui.

The USA finished the 2026 regular season third overall, which included bronze medals in both North American stops in Vancouver and New York. They made the Cup Final at Valladolid but placed fourth overall on the SVNS World Championship standings.

Kristi Kirshe and Sammy Sullivan all impressed throughout the season, while Ariana Ramsey became the first American woman to be nominated for World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, which was eventually presented to New Zealand’s Jorja Miller.

Miller and the Black Ferns Sevens were beaten earlier this month in a pre-season three-match ‘series’ by the Aussies. Maddison Levi starred for the hosts during two Friday night wins at the Kick On 7s in the eastern suburbs, before the New Zealanders won at Accor Stadium the next day.

“We’ve trained pretty hard the past couple of weeks, obviously some of us were at Ultimate Sevens but prior to that we trained hard,” Australia captain Isabella Nasser told RugbyPass and Rugby.com.au.

“We knew that coming out of Bordeaux and Valladolid we had a target on our back and we knew that teams were going to come for us being in top spot.

“Complacency never announced itself and we knew that we had to put on a pretty good performance here to beat the Kiwis. They’re not an easy team to beat.”

The Black Ferns Sevens are set for a rematch for the Paris Games gold medal clash with Canada, who have been draw in Pool B with Japan and Fiji. Japan were one of the big improvers during the early rounds of last season, even defeating Canada.

Dubai is the first stop of a familiar SVNS schedule, with the circuit then heading to Cape Town before the New Year. Singapore, Perth, Vancouver and New York will host regular season events, before the World Championship heads to the same three cities as last season.

The fan favourite Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens kicks off the World Championship on April 9-11, before the series heads to Valladolid on May 21-23. Bordeaux rounds things off on May 28-30, one year out from the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Dubai Sevens Women’s Pools

Pool A: Australia, the USA, France, Spain

Pool B: New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Fiji

Dubai Sevens Men’s Pools

Pool A: South Africa, Australia, Argentina, the USA

Pool B: New Zealand, Spain, Fiji, France