New Zealand have unveiled their Sevens squads for the upcoming Hong Kong and Singapore legs of the 2024/25 SVNS circuit.
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Stacey Waaka and All Blacks Sevens veteran Joe Webber will return to the HSBC SVNS Series in Vancouver.
The New Zealand Men’s side opened up the Perth tournament with a 29-14 victory over Kenya in Pool C. The Kiwis were helped by a try-on debut for Bay of Plenty’s Frank Vaenuku and tries from veterans Andrew Knewstubb, Regan Ware, and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.
SVNS Perth is off to an incredible start with Uruguay shocking Fiji 24-17 with what “may just be the biggest upset in SVNS Series history.”
Eight gold medallists from the Paris Olympic Games will take the field for the Black Ferns Sevens at the Elevate Sevens.
Both teams were soundly beaten in the semi-finals, New Zealand swatted aside 55-31 by French flair while Ireland were depowered 31-20 by a physical England who especially bullied their scrum.
Three matches are scheduled for Athlone: Ireland-Australia (2pm local time), France-Wales (4:30pm) and South Africa-England (7pm). Over in Stellenbosch, it’s Argentina-Fiji (2pm), Georgia-Italy (4:30pm) and New Zealand-Spain (7pm).
The Kiwis got the show on the road with a 41-34 Pool A win over Wales at Athlone and they have now changed three forwards and two backs for their eagerly anticipated clash with the French.
New Zealand U20 opener their U20 Championship campaign against Wales U20 on Sunday morning (NZST).
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.