SVNS Series: All Blacks Sevens rise again, teams ready to shock the world

The RugbyPass Round Table writers preview the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS Series. Finn Morton (FM), Ben Smith (BS), Joe Harvey (JH) and Lachlan Grey (LG) weigh in with some predictions before the season opener this weekend in Dubai.

Who will be the overall men’s champions in 2025/26?

Finn Morton (FM): The rapid rise of the Blitzboks on the SVNS Series needs to be studied – it’s perhaps the blueprint for one of their fiercest foes, who will ascend back to the top of the mountain in 2025/26.

South Africa have a long and esteemed history on the world’s premier sevens circuit, which made the team’s seventh-place finish on the league standings in 2022/23 and 2023/24 a shock to many, but they looked like a completely different team last time around.

After taking out the overall SVNS Series World Championship title earlier this year in Los Angeles, the Boks will be contenders yet again, but the All Blacks Sevens will reign supreme. They’ve made some intriguing changes to their squad after a seventh-place finish in the league last season.

They appear set to follow in the footsteps of their rival.

Andrew Knewstubb, Xavier Tito-Harris, Cody Vai and Tepaea Cook-Savage are among the big-name departures from the All Blacks Sevens program, but others now have a chance to step up and star on the world’s sevens stage.

The All Blacks Sevens went unbeaten in warm-up matches against Fiji and Australia in Tauranga earlier this month. Akuila Rokolisoa is ready to go, youngster Frank Vaenuku is back for another season, and captain Tone Ng Shiu is set to lead a side that boasts genuine star power.

Ben Smith (BS): The last few years have been about Argentina in the men’s division, and 2025-26 will be no different.

They’ve built a formidable roster with speedster Marcos Moneta and Luciano Gonzalez, taking over the SVNS circuit.

Despite South Africa winning the one-off World Championship in 2025 in LA, it was Argentina who claimed the league with 104 points and gold at three consecutive events, Perth, Vancouver and Hong Kong. This was back-to-back league wins after finishing 1^st in 2023-24 as well.

Since 2021, they’ve claimed the Player of the Year award three times, Moneta, Rodrigo Isgro and Luciano Gonzalez all winning the gong.

Isgro has gone to 15s with Harlequins, but there are other key pieces still around with Moneta and Gonzalez, Matteo Graziano, Santiago Mare.

Until someone actually stops them from winning half the events, it’s too early to call the end of Argentina’s dominance.

Joe Harvey (JH): You know, there really is something about this South Africa team. Philip Snyman has named a mind-bogglingly experienced squad for the season opener in Dubai and promised that new faces will be parachuted in over the course of the season as attentions begin to turn to LA28.

Having not just the talent to do that, but the confidence, is extremely telling. For Dubai the Blitzboks boast 340 tournament appearances amongst their ranks. Their road to World Championship success in 2025 was a slow burn, this year should be a show of strength from the start. One of the most significant changes to the team is Impi Visser’s installation as captain, with Selvyn Davids and Zain Davids acting as co-captains.

Lachlan Grey (LG): Los Pumas 7s have been the model of consistency throughout the past two Series, finishing as back-to-back League Winners before falling in the final four at Championship level.

It took an early red card to help Spain stun Argentina 29-5 in last season’s Los Angeles semi-final while an Anton Dupont-inspired France were surprise 19-5 victors in the Madrid decider.

The new three-stop Championship format will see Los Pumas storm to the overall crown and rightfully so.

Will the Black Ferns Sevens defend their SVNS title?

LG: It’d take a brave scribe to tip against New Zealand’s all-conquering women but Australia might just have what it takes to snatch the Black Ferns’ crown.

Tim Walsh’s side shot out of the blocks last Series with two titles (Dubai and Perth) from the opening three legs before fading away, including four straight defeats to New Zealand.

However, the return of Maddi Ashby coupled with the squad’s improved depth and Australia’s pre-season form across the ditch against the Black Ferns lends a golden hue to their chances.

FM: New Zealand may be the reigning champions but this season’s title is Australia’s to lose. That’s quite a bold way to frame it but the Aussies really do seem to be a class above – there’s not really a weakness in Tim Walsh’s squad this season.

Try-scoring phenomenon Maddison Levi told RugbyPass that Australia “can really dominate the Series with the girls we’ve got.” Well Maddi, I don’t disagree.

Charlotte Caslick has been named in the squad for the season, but the three-time Olympian will miss the opening two stops of the campaign. Madison Ashby, Kaitlan Shave, Bienne Terita and Demi Kennewell (nee Hayes) will also all be back in the mix at some stage after overcoming injuries.

Levi scored a record-breaking 15 tries in Dubai last season, and younger sister Teagan has become one of the more dangerous playmakers in the game. Olympian Kahli Henwood missed out on selection for Dubai – this squad is stacked, to say the least.

New Zealand will be one of Australia’s main rivals for title yet again, but they’re without some established veterans as they look to the next generation. Canada will also be a vastly improved side, so much so that it wouldn’t be a surprise if they win at least one event.

BS: Is it wrong to say the Black Ferns Sevens will be even better this year? Bringing over World Breakthrough Player of the Year Braxton Sorensen-McGee just means the rich get richer.

The Black Ferns Sevens set the standard for New Zealand Rugby now. The Olympic gold medallists from 2024 continued that on the SVSN 2024-25 circuit making the final in all seven events, winning gold in five of them.

Jorja Miller and Risi Pouri-Lane took home five Player of the Final awards between them.

Recently, they have started slow with Dubai being a troubled event for them. Australia women have won the last two Dubai events. But the Ferns tend to kick into gear and dominate after that.

If the Ferns claim Dubai this time around, it’s already over.

JH: I’m going to say no. Last year much was made of the injuries sustained by Australia Women’s Sevens and that a number of top players went on Wallaroos duty ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Over the next few months we will not only see Madison Ashby, Bienne Terita, Demi Kennewell (nee Hayes), Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Charlotte Caslick and Tia Hinds back on the pitch, but a number of Wallaroos players looking to keep sharp before the new Super Rugby W season next year in the form of Waiaria Ellis and Maya Stewart.

Even with a threadbare squad Tim Walsh’s side managed to finish second. With a resurgence of depth and more players wanting to get involved, then you can only see good things ahead.

Which team is most likely to surprise the world this season?

JH: This may be optimism more than anything else, but in the men’s and women’s competitions, I expect Great Britain to throw a cat amongst the pigeons. An offseason restructure of their programme means that GB have moved to a camp and competition model.

The Scottish Rugby Union have handed out six professional contracts and brought in Ciaran Beattie to lead the programme. It looks totally different, but that is not to say that it will go badly. We could well see Great Britain struggle in Dubai and Cape Town, but that initial litmus test will battle-harden the teams and pave the way to an upset in the New Year.

LG: There’s only one way for the New Zealand Men in 2025/2026 – and that’s up.

After an early semi-final appearance in Dubai last Series, the All Black Sevens finished stone cold last on the League rankings before firing late in the piece to claim third at the LA Championships.

They’re a far better outfit than those results suggest and the injection of rookie trio Riley Williams, Fletcher Morgan and Kele Lasaqa will add much-needed depth to a squad desperate to prove their home critics wrong this season.

Don’t be surprised to see these All Black Sevens on the podium more often than not.

BS: If there is a surprise team, it will come on the men’s side who have the most competive landscape ever.

Only three nations won an event leg last season, Argentina (3), South Africa (2) and Fiji (2). Spain and France finished runners-up twice each, without an event win.

New Zealand went without a top three finish all season, before claiming bronze in the World Championship in LA.

As ridiculous as it sounds for the All Blacks Sevens to be the surprise team, from where they are coming from, they qualify for that moniker. If they win an event, it will be a surprise.

They have Akuila Rokolisoa back, who missed most of last year, while young Kele Lasaqa is a young playmaker to watch. If they get 2023 breakout star Roderick Solo back from injury, they will be massive riser. If he gets his chance, Kitiona Vai could make a name for himself.

2025-26 can be the re-birth season for the All Blacks Sevens.

FM: Spain caught everyone off guard when they defeated the All Blacks Sevens twice in Dubai last season, but that was the start of an incredibly remarkable season. They had finished 11^th in 2022/23 and 10^th the following season, before skyrocketing up the standings last time around.

After six events in 2024/25, Spain finished in third place on the league standings, behind only Argentina and Fiji. Spain went on to lose the World Championship decider to South Africa – so nearly etching their names into sporting immortality with the overall season title.

While many fans would probably still consider Spain an underdog, rather than an out-and-out contender this season, it’s entirely possible they lift a trophy or two. This is the season the entire rugby world officially recognises Spain as an established juggernaut on the SVNS Series.

Would it be fair to say that’s a surprise? Again, depends on who you ask.

In the women’s draw, Japan finished the 2024/25 league in fifth place. Japan Women’s Under-18s Sevens Development Squad won Global Youth Sevens in Auckland last December, and eventually, those players are going to make their mark at the professional level.

Japan play with fearlessness, grit and skill. They throw the ball around and aren’t afraid to front up on the defensive side of the ball. Whether it’s this season or sometime in the near future, Japan will follow in the footsteps of Spain’s men’s side, by emerging as a genuine sevens force.