Jorja Miller joins exclusive SVNS club with Player of the Year award

Jorja Miller has joined an exclusive club with two other HSBC SVNS Series greats after taking out the circuit’s top individual honour for a second time. Miller was named the 2026 Women’s SVNS Player of the Year in partnership with HSBC after SVNS Bordeaux.

Michalea Brake (nee Blyde) and Charlotte Caslick previously stood alone as the only other two-time recipients of the major award, with Miller now the third to achieve that feat. Miller has been a standout all season, starring as New Zealand won six of nine events. 

Miller was named the Sevens Player of the Year for the first time last season, having helped New Zealand win the World Championship event in Los Angeles about 13 months ago. The 22-year-old joins Brake as the only two players to have won the award back-to-back.

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World Rugby announced the three award nominees ahead of the SVNS World Championship finale in Bordeaux, which saw the USA’s Ariana Ramsey make history. Ramsey became the first woman from the USA to be recognised with a Sevens Player of the Year nomination. 

Maddison Levi was the other nominee, with the prolific try-scorer looking to become a two-time winner after being crowned the world’s best in 2024. But Miller is the latest player to claim the rare award double, crowned the best of the best at the 2026 HSBC SVNS Awards. 

 “An absolute honor to be named it once but to get it for a second time, stoked. Honestly, all the credit goes to the girls around me and I know it sounds cliche but without these girls I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t be able to succeed on the world stage,” Miller told RugbyPass in Bordeaux.

“This for me is a team award and I’m just proud of the team.”

RugbyPass writers have been voting throughout the season to determine the website’s SVNS Series Player of the Year. Miller won that with two events left in the season, reflecting just how dominant New Zealand’s vice-captain has been. 

Miller is one of two Black Ferns Sevens players in the Women’s SVNS Dream Team of the Year in partnership with HSBC. Risi Pouri-Lane has been recognised for a career-best season, which included a Player of the Final award at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. 

Australia co-captain Isabella Nasser, France’s Alycia Christiaens and Fiji’s Reapi Ulunisau have also been named in the team of the season, along with Levi and Ramsey. This is the second season in a row that Miller, Pouri-Lane, Nasser and Levi have been selected. 

Anaick Konyi from France was named the 2026 Women’s SVNS Rookie of the Year, with World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson presenting the award. Canada’s Kennedi Stevenson and the USA’s Tahna Wilfley were nominated for that accolade as well. 

Konyi, who is only 19 years of age, helped France secure a top five finish at their home event in Bordeaux. France defeated Fiji on Sunday afternoon at Stade Atlantique, seeing them finish the World Championship in fifth on the overall standings.