‘World-beaters’ got 50 put on them: World Rugby Chair on new SVNS format

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson applauded the start of the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS Series after attending the season-opener in Dubai, with the new-look competition format getting off to a strong start a few weeks ago.

South Africa’s Blitzboks and New Zealand’s Black Ferns Sevens took out their respective overall SVNS Series titles at the winner-takes-all World Championship in May, before the sport ushered in its new era about seven months later.

World Rugby had unveiled a three-tier model to fuel sevens’ growth earlier this year, which included only eight women’s and eight men’s in the top flight. The sport’s governing body have since announced the host cities and dates for the division two and three tournaments.

The 2025/26 competition format has given each match a knockout feel, with only the top two sides from each pool remaining in the race for Cup Final glory. There are higher stakes than ever before in pool play at every tournament, and it’s already delivered some entertaining results.

Robinson was in Dubai for the first stop of the SVNS 1 season on November 29-30, with New Zealand winning the men’s and women’s Cup Finals. In pool play, there were some tense matches that lived up to the hype – including a historic 59-7 win for France over Argentina.

“It was fabulous. From the players perspective, from the fans perspective, eight of the best men (teams), eight of the best women (teams) playing back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday,” Robinson told RugbyPass at the Rugby World Cup Draw in Sydney.

“No match, no match is a gimmie. If you drop your head for a moment, you’re out.

“The Argentinian team, who have been world-beaters, got 50 points put on them by France. The Australian men were exceptional to beat France in that semi-final. The women had a cracking start to the game and it just wasn’t their night, the Australian women.

“We were really excited about it.

“If you talk to the players and you talk to fans and the broadcasters about it, it was a quality weekend.”

Japan qualified for the women’s semi-finals after overcoming Great Britain and Paris Olympics silver medallists Canada in must-win scenarios. The Japanese had lost their opening match against Australia but rallied with two inspirational performances.

Australia’s men’s side made the Cup Final against arch-rivals New Zealand before securing a seventh-place finish a week later at SVNS Cape Town. The Blitzboks fell short of the semi-finals in Dubai but went on to lift the trophy at their home event the following weekend.

There have been a series of unpredictable results already – numerous early-season contenders for upset of the season – including the USA shocking the Black Ferns Sevens in Dubai. It’s perhaps never been tougher to win titles on the SVNS Series, as Boks captain Impi Visser noted.

“It’s a tough final. I think we made it a little bit difficult for us with our error rate being so high,” Visser said post-game, as seen on RugbyPass TV, after the SVNS Cape Town Cup Final.

“The boys showed massive character, especially throughout the weekend. We had some tough games but the boys pulled through.

“I think we showed what we’re all about and what this jersey is all about.”