Finals footy arrives: Five things we learnt ahead of SVNS Valladolid

The first leg of the HSBC World Championships is done and dusted, as the Blitzboks and Black Ferns continued their dominance of the regular season by claiming the Hong Kong Sevens.

The next stop on the circuit is Valladolid in northwest Spain, with José Zorrilla Stadium set to feature a critical weekend of finals action in the last week of May.

Ahead of the Spanish soiree, RugbyPass breaks down the key lessons learnt from a big weekend of action in the Fragrant Harbour, and what things look like for all the key players as the season comes to a close.

Finals legs a perfect balance 

It’s proven a case of third time lucky when it comes to the formatting of the World Series, with a three-leg World Championship format already proving to be a step up from previous years.

While the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons saw a one-off, winner-take-all final in Madrid and Los Angeles, respectively, this created the side effect that where teams finished in the regular season was made somewhat redundant, as whoever played their best on finals day would win the whole tournament.

With multiple legs now in play, the chance comes for those regular-season performers to bounce back if they had a bad tournament in Hong Kong, and with only three legs to do so, it’s a case of now or never when they arrive in Spain.

While South Africa and New Zealand won the tournaments, the movement underneath them saw plenty of surprises, the increasingly common habit of fast finishers showing up in finals rearing its head once again.

With the new tiered system, the HSBC SVNS appears to have found a perfect balance, giving plenty of opportunities to the challenging sides, rewarding the strongest regular season teams, keeping the fans happy, and keeping finals from being a single, winner-takes-all affair.

Team GB in the SVNS 2 firing line

Across both the men’s and women’s competitions, the SVNS 2 sides made their presence felt in Hong Kong, and there was one side more than any other in the firing line.

The first leg of the HSBC World Championships is done and dusted, as the Blitzboks and Black Ferns continued their dominance.

Great Britain has had a rough 2025-26 series, the women’s side finishing last in every tournament, with the men faring not much better.

In fact, the women’s side achieved their first win of the whole series in Hong Kong, defeating South Africa 19-14 in the 9th to 12th playoffs to snap a 351-day losing streak.

While it would be good for Team GB to get the monkey off its back, there is no hiding that several teams are coming for their position.

Germany achieved victory over the men’s side to finish above them in the pool stages, while 2026 SVNS 3 champions South Africa also defeated the women’s side in the pool stages.

Spain and Brazil finished in a higher position in the women’s competition, while Kenya qualified for the quarter finals in the men’s competition, finishing higher than France.

Uruguay also climbed over Team GB to finish in ninth, meaning the British need to show up big time in Spain if they hope to hold onto their World Series position.

Blitzboks hold title defence in their hands… just

The Blitzboks had to make history to keep their hopes of defending their title alive, the side having never tasted victory in Hong Kong before this weekend.

That duck was finally broken after a 35-7 victory over Argentina in the final, but it was far from secure, the South Africans coming back from being beaten 31-12 by Spain in the pool stages.

While they eventually navigated Kenya 26-22 and New Zealand 26-14 to get to the final, the Blitzboks likely know there are a lot of challengers circling them in Valladolid.

With Fiji and Australia pushing them across the regular season, Hong Kong saw Spain and Argentina arrive firmly back in the picture, using their late regular-season form to keep the defending champions on notice.

With all of those sides as well as the ever-present threat of New Zealand looking to push their cases in Valladolid, the Spanish city might be the most contested tournament of the year.

Can anyone stop the Black Ferns?

It’s a serious question now. With six consecutive title wins and knocking rivals Australia out in the final for the sixth consecutive time, are we seeing a generational women’s Black Ferns side?

Across the history of Women’s Sevens, New Zealand is the only side ever to claim three consecutive titles in a row, from 2012-13 to 2014-15.

While the format and level of competition have changed a lot since then, that Kiwi side went on to be the backbone of a successful period in New Zealand women’s rugby, which also translated over to the longer form format with Rugby World Cups in 2017 and 2021.

The current side has already beaten that record, winning four consecutive regular-season titles.

But, should they win in Spain and France, the Kiwis will put an exclamation point on their dominance of this season and will be in a prime position to become the first side to win three championships in the 2026-27 season.

Even in a side whose history is filled with success, that would be another achievement entirely. Who can step up to end the Black Ferns’ winning run?

One key player holds sway in Spain

As we prepare to head to northwest Spain, while the women’s competition will likely see the chasing pack look to unseat Australia and New Zealand, a new challenger is emerging in the wings in the men’s competition.

Finishing in third in Hong Kong, Spain’s men’s side were the only team to defeat the Blitzboks, bouncing back well from losing their first game against Argentina.

They would go down to the Pumas 7s again in the semi-finals, but their defeat of New Zealand and Australia sees them qualify for the top seed of Pool C.

Should the side get on a roll at home in front of a massive crowd, it could prove to be the extra leg they need to make the final and win. Should they do that, they could be well set to claim the 2025-26 World Championship out of nowhere.

Valladolid can’t come fast enough.

Men’s Pools:

Pool A: South Africa, Australia, Kenya, Great Britain

Pool B: Argentina, New Zealand, Uruguay, Germany

Pool C: Spain, Fiji, France, USA

Women’s Pools

Pool A: New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, Argentina

Pool B: Australia, USA, Fiji, South Africa

Pool C: France, Canada, Spain, Great Britain