Flying under the radar: Six players to watch at SVNS New York

Vancouver once again delivered the goods, with stunning tries and brilliant individual performances across a stunning weekend in British Columbia.

With only one round of action remaining in the regular season, the year has seen many new players stand up and impress for their respective nations, with their efforts only more valuable when the Championship series starts next month in Hong Kong.

RugbyPass breaks down six stars who we think are flying under the radar in the 2025-26 HSBC Sevens Series, as the regular season wraps up this weekend in New York.

Our qualifiers are that these players must have debuted in the last three years, have played at least one tournament this year, and they currently have no points in the RugbyPass SVNS MVP, meaning players like New Zealand’s Jaymie Kolose are unable to qualify.

Kahli Henwood (Australia)

Incredibly, one of Australia’s most exciting sevens prospects qualifies as a rising star, but Kahli Henwood is included on this list with good reason.

Playing in her third tournament of the 2025-26 series in Vancouver after being rotated out of the squad twice, Henwood put forward a compelling case to keep her position, delivering across the weekend and serving as a valuable running mate to Tia Hinds.

Finley Lloyd-Gilmour (Great Britain)

Starting at the Singapore Sevens earlier this year, Finley Lloyd-Gilmour announced himself with a hat-trick over the All Blacks Sevens in Perth.

In a year where Great Britain has found it hard to get off the bottom of the ladder in both competitions, Lloyd-Gilmour has been one of the standout players, keeping his spot in Vancouver.

Erica Coulibaly (USA)

One of the rising stars of USA Rugby, winger Erica Coulilbaly has had a colossal 12 months on the field ever since she debuted for the Denver Onyx in the Women’s Elite Rugby 2025 season.

Since then, she has made her debut in the USA Eagles, featured at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England and made a successful transition over to Sevens, debuting in Dubai and scoring a match-winning try against New Zealand.

She has featured in every Sevens leg since then, proving effective both off the bench and in the starting side.

Aden Ekanayake (Australia)

Debuting at the Dubai Sevens in late 2024, Aden Ekanayake has become one of the standout players in an exciting group of former U20 stars coming through the ranks down under.

Also featuring as a member of the Australia U20 side in rugby’s longer format, Ekanayake has become a regular starter across the 2025-25 HSBC SVNS series, playing a major part in head coach Liam Barry’s developing outfit.

Minako Taniyama (Japan)

First rising to prominence during the 2024-2025 HSBC SVNS World Series, Taniyama became one of the competition’s most prolific try scorers, winning the fan-voted HSBC SVNS Women’s Try of the Year award in 2025, scoring against the USA in Vancouver.

Despite Japan currently sitting in sixth this year, Taniyama remains one of the competition’s most prolific players since returning to the national side in Singapore, putting Great Britain to the sword this weekend in Vancouver.

Sam Clarke (New Zealand)

Lastly, one of the All Blacks Sevens debutants from earlier this year, Sam Clarke has shown glimpses of immense potential in his first two tournaments in the famous black jersey.

Getting on the scoresheet in nearly every single game in Vancouver, Clarke is an exciting player who goes looking for work and who is only going to improve as he gets more time under his belt.