Five things we learned from the SVNS 2 schedule announcement

After launching on the global sevens stage in spectacular fashion last year, the second season schedule of HSBC SVNS 2 has been confirmed this week.

Hot on the heels of confirmation of an unchanged HSBC SVNS World Championship format, the 2027 season is set to give sevens fans an even closer look at the up-and-coming challengers who are vying to make it into the SVNS Series.

With the United States men’s side and the Spain women’s side successfully qualifying for the SVNS Series, it marks SVNS 2 as a tournament that can not only match the level of intensity, but produce teams that can challenge and beat the best.

RugbyPass breaks down the key talking points following the announcement, and who are the sides likely to challenge for the top level.

If it ain’t broke…

One of the big positives is that the schedule will see the competition return to Nairobi, Montevideo and São Paulo, with all three sides hosting the inaugural season last year.

Of particular note was the shift in stadium in Nairobi, the opening leg of the tournament being upgraded to the recently opened 60,000 seat Talanta Sports Stadium, the largest stadium in the country.

Nyayo National Stadium saw over 10,000 fans through the gates in the opening weekend of the SVNS 2 leg earlier this year, impressing both the powers that be at World Rugby, the Kenyan Rugby Union, Rugby Africa and the Kenyan Government.

With momentum around the sport only growing following a near capacity crowd at Nyayo National Stadium during the Safari Sevens last weekend, it bodes well that the Nairobi SVNS next year will likely smash the previous crowd record with a larger venue.

Montevideo meanwhile will see SVNS 2 return to the spiritual home of Uruguayan rugby, Estadio Charrúa, with Estádio Nicolau Alayon, the home of Super Rugby Americas side Cobras, hosting the São Paulo leg.

The road to LA28 

SVNS 2 will mark a major step in the road for several teams as they look to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with the 2027 season, like the SVNS Series, set to be critical for qualification.

The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of the HSBC SVNS World Championship next year will automatically qualify for the Olympics – and with the top four teams of SVNS 2 set to go through to the World Championship, a dream run in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux would lock that qualification down.

Following this, a further six men’s and six women’s teams will qualify through regional qualifiers, meaning that even if teams in SVNS 2 don’t make the cut, strong form in this tournament will prove valuable if they want to make it to LA.

Any sides that miss out in regional tournaments will get one last chance through the Olympic Repechage in June 2028, with just one men’s and one women’s spot up for grabs.

Schedule shift

January and February are set to be busy months for sevens rugby fans, with five weekends of sevens rugby action following the confirmation of the SVNS 2 schedule.

SVNS 2, after being played across February-March of 2026 will shift a month back to January-February in 2027, with action in Nairobi taking place on 23rd-24th January.

The secondary tournament will then take two weeks off – in which time the SVNS Series will see events in Singapore and Perth, respectively, before the top level tournament breaks for a month before the final two legs of the regular season in North America.

However, after a week off following Perth, sevens fans will be able to enjoy back-to-back weekends of SVNS 2 action in Montevideo (20th-21st February) and São Paulo (27th-28th February), determining who are the four teams in the men’s and women’s tournament who will qualify for the World Championship.

This shift forward also gives the qualified teams more time to prepare than they had in 2026, enjoying all of March off to recover and prepare before the World Championship commences at the Hong Kong Sevens in early April.

Sides to watch

While the SVNS 2 teams are still to be officially announced by World Rugby, based on qualifications from last year and form from this year, several sides already loom as major challengers for both the men’s and women’s tournament.

The favourites coming into the men’s tournament will likely be Kenya, with the side having just claimed the 2026 Safari Sevens title and the 2026 Mauritius Sevens in back-to-back weekends, the latter seeing them stun the world champion Blitzboks in the finals.

Having just missed out on qualification thanks to the United States’ strong finish in Bordeaux, the Shujaa will likely face their biggest competition in 2026’s big improvers, Germany, and last year’s relegated SVNS Series side Great Britain.

The women’s tournament is set to be a thriller, with SVNS 2 runners-up Spain managing to qualify for the World Series last year.

The big improvers of the women’s sevens game last year were South Africa and Argentina, and with a year under their belt, they will be looking to try and build on 2026’s success with qualification.

Great Britain is also likely to feature after being relegated last year, and will come in as a dark horse for the tournament alongside the likes of Brazil, who finished in ninth in the World Championship last year, the best performer behind Spain.

Lastly, there is the Kenyan women’s team, the Lionesses, who missed out on World Championship qualification last year but are likely to come into SVNS 2 in form, having recently come off consecutive victories in Safari Sevens.

SVNS World Championship honours await

Even with Olympic qualification in the picture, the sides set to compete in SVNS 2 have motivation enough to deliver a big performance in Kenya, Uruguay and Brazil – SVNS Series qualification.

With sides being given over an extra month to prepare for the SVNS World Championship, the teams that make it to the Hong Kong Sevens will be coming in fresh and ready to make an impact – and judging by last year, the sides will be hot on the heels of the top eight teams.

Even before the United States and Spain qualified, Hong Kong saw Kenya knock off France 21-7 to finish in seventh, also nearly defeating the Blitzboks at the quarterfinals, eventually going down 26-22. The side also qualified for the Valladolid finals, finishing in eighth.

With the likes of Germany and Great Britain also pulling big results across the final three weeks of the SVNS season last year, it’s clear these SVNS 2 sides are only going to offer up more challenges in 2027.