SVNS magic moments in Australia: Ioane brothers catch fire, Irish boilover

The HSBC SVNS Series will be held in Perth for just the third time. The first incarnation of an Australian Sevens tournament was at Concord Oval in Sydney as part of Australia’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1986.

New Zealand won an international invitational tournament, defeating Australia 32-0 in the final after earlier wins over Tonga (22-0), USA (28-0), Fiji (16-0), and Argentina (24-4).

The New Zealand team featured All Blacks Frano Botica, Mike Clamp, Terry Wright, Sir Wayne Smith (Captain), David Kirk, Sir Wayne Shelford, Mark Brooke-Cowden and Zinzan Brooke.

The invitational tournament was played four times, with New Zealand winning three titles.

Since the inception of the World Series format, the Aussie Sevens has been held in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Western Australia.

With six cup triumphs, Fiji is the most successful team. The Black Ferns Sevens have won three titles since the inception of the women’s tournament in 2017.

Fijian Kings

The inaugural Brisbane 7s was the seventh tournament in the 1999-2000 World Series. Fiji had a stacked side with big names like Jope Tuikabe, Seta Tawake, Fillimoni Delasau, Fero Lasagavibau and the king Waisale Serevi.

It was little surprise Fiji breezed through to the final, thrashing Cook Islands (40-7), Uruguay (49-0), Argentina (38-14), France (47-7) and South Africa (45-7).

Hosts Australia proved far tougher in the final, leading 21-19 at full-time when Servei handled for the last time. He dummied to Delasau, jump-stepped into a hole, and outpaced Richard Graham to the line.

Serevi would mastermind another Fijian triumph in 2007 when, as coach, he started himself in the final against Samoa before bringing on prodigy William Ryder, who scored a key second-half try.

In 2013, Fiji won the Australian tournament on the Gold Coast in Jerry Tuwai’s debut. Fiji beat Scotland (40-7), Portugal (38-0), Australia (35-12), Wales (31-10), England (48-7) and Samoa (31-24) en route to the title.

2016: Ioane Brothers Catch Fire

Having never led in the final, Rieko Ioane completed his hat-trick with the last play of the match to give New Zealand a 27-24 victory over Australia in front of a sold-out Allianz Stadium crowd of 37,095.

Ioane was named player of the tournament for his seven tries. Still, his older brother Akira was named Man of the Match in the final after a damaging performance, which included setting up Rieko’s first try with a trademark burst down the sideline.

Australia started brightly with 18-year-old speedster Henry Hutchison (now Australia’s most capped player with 62 tournaments) opening the scoring after a Cameron Clark (son of commentator Greg Clark) bust. The All Black Sevens showed their power with a 90m counter-attacking try where Akira Ioane gave Hutchison a vicious fend before handing off to brother Rieko.

Sonny Bill Williams started the final but did his side no favours with a high tackle, for which he was yellow-carded. Hutchison capitalised on the extra space as Australia led at halftime, an advantage they maintained in the second half until future Wallaby Henry Speight was caught high in contact when Australia had the ball and a two-point lead with five seconds left. The ensuing scrum from the maul gave New Zealand a chance to steal the match.

In the semi-finals, New Zealand beat Fiji 14-12, with Akira scoring one of the tries of the tournament.

Sir Gordon Tietjens led the All Blacks Sevens from their 1994 Hong Kong Sevens win through to the 2016 Rio Olympics. His international sevens coaching record stands out: 80 tournament wins from 183 events, with 891 wins, 142 losses, and 9 draws. His achievements include eight Hong Kong Sevens titles, four Commonwealth Games gold medals, and Rugby World Cup Sevens victories in 2001 and 2013. Over the first 17 World Series seasons, Tietjens guided the team to 12 overall titles. During his 22 years as coach, 56 All Blacks came through his teams, which became known for their fitness and high standards, outscoring opponents 31,121 to 9,860. Tietjens was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2012.

Meanwhile, Tim Mikkelson has the record for most Australian Sevens tournament appearances with 13. He also holds the record for most tries in the tournament with 39. All Blacks Sevens coach Tomasi Cama has scored more points than any player at the Perth Sevens, with 300. He scored 2,028 SVNS career points, second only to England’s Ben Gollings with 2,652.

2024: Irish Boilover

Ireland won their first and only SVNS title when they stunned Australia 19-14 in the final of the Perth Sevens at a sold-out HBF Park.

Eve Higgins scored the winning try with 90 seconds left. Ireland won a ruck penalty in centre field, 15 meters out from the hosts’ line. The Irish tapped quickly and sent three passes to the left wing, where Higgins bumped off a defender and charged over the line. Higgins, capped 32 times at the 15s level, scored 79 SVNS tries for Ireland.

Earlier, Charlotte Caslick wrapped around Madison Ashby and raced away for the opener.

Ireland responded almost instantly as flyer Amee Leigh Costigan sprinted away to level the scores. Leigh Costigan scored 33 tries in the Australian Sevens to rank third on the all-time tournament list. She scored 203 tries and 1015 SVNS points for Ireland and has been capped at the 15s level.

Australia looked to hang on in defence but found themselves down to six when Caslick was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown.

Ireland took full advantage as captain Lucy Mulhall dived over for a seven-point half-time lead.

Caslick returned and had an immediate impact, putting the returning Teagan Levi into space to bring the game level again.

In pool play, Ireland beat the USA 19-14, Japan 26-7 and lost to New Zealand 21-14. Ireland eliminated Fiji 14-12 and Great Britain 31-7 in the cup quarter-final and semi-final.

Ireland coach Alan Temple-Jones was elated: “Playing Australia in Australia is an unbelievable opportunity for the girls,” he said. “We’re extremely chuffed … lost for words. We’ve had a good focus these last two weeks. We had a lot to improve on after Dubai and Cape Town … unreal.”

Captain Mulhall said the win had been “a long time coming” and was “massive for women’s Irish rugby.” Unfortunately, Ireland’s funding was cut, and they no longer compete in SVNS.

2025: Aussie Rookies Score Watershed Victory

Australia pipped the Black Ferns Sevens 28-26 in a breathless final. Despite injuries to Faith Nathan and Maddison Levi, Australia prevailed with three 19-year-olds.

One of those rookies, Heidi Dennis, was named player of the final with two long-range tries in each half.

Initially, it was veteran Michaela Brake dictating terms. Two left-hand fends and rapid acceleration saw the Taranaki flyer, recently married to Olympic rowing champion Michael Brake, burst 55m.

New Zealand failed to find the required distance at the restart. Dennis emulated Brake on the right edge after a patient build-up.

Australia was jammed in their 22 but outflanked New Zealand to reach the halfway line. Tia Hinds then received with momentum and her dummy was quicker than an opportunistic mosquito.

Down 14-7, New Zealand levelled the scores by halftime when captain Sarah Hirini made a lumbering run similar to her Paris surge. Down three defenders, Australia couldn’t stop Kelsey Teneti.

Charlotte Caslick was the last player chasing Teneti and those roles reversed early in the second half. With a trademark dummy and pivot, Caslick opened a hole inside her own 22 and sprinted clear for her 184th SVNS try.

The third tie in the game was broken by Dennis. Tegan Levi slipped through congestion at the 22 and strode to the ten-meter mark before pulling up lame. A 30m bounce pass sat up for Dennis, who finished as close to the posts as possible. Hinds kicked four out of four conversions.

Australia whitewashed New Zealand for the only time, 31-0 in the 2018 final in Sydney. The Black Ferns Sevens would exact revenge on the competition by winning the next three Australian Sevens titles in a row. In that span, they won 18 successive matches. A 34-10 thumping of Australia in the 2019 Cup final was a highlight. Michaela Brake (3) and Stacey Waaka (2) scored tries. Brake holds the record for most points, 195 and tries 39 at the Australian Sevens.