South Africa and New Zealand dominate HSBC SVNS in Vancouver
The series now heads to New York City for the final event of the regular World Rugby Sevens Series season, where the race for top spot is expected to intensify.
South Africa men and New Zealand women lift the Vancouver7s title, Photo by world rugby
By Mahlon Lichuma
The South Africa national rugby sevens team and the New Zealand women’s national rugby sevens team emerged as the standout teams at the HSBC SVNS Vancouver, held at BC Place, delivering impressive performances that have reshaped the race for the series title.
The Blitzboks claimed the men’s title in Vancouver, adding it to their earlier triumphs in HSBC SVNS Perth and HSBC SVNS Cape Town this season. Their unbeaten run throughout the tournament propelled South Africa to the top of the standings, level on points with the Fiji national rugby sevens team.
The victory also marked South Africa’s first win in Canada since the Covid-shortened series held in Canada Sevens.
Blitzboks captain Impi Visser praised his team’s achievement while already looking ahead to the next leg of the series.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Visser said after the final. “Sometimes we take it for granted, but it’s an amazing feeling, and we’re really grateful for it.
“We’ve had a lot of changes, six changes from Perth to now, and the thing we said we want to build is consistency. I think we’ve shown that through and through. We just need to keep this momentum going into New York.”
Fiji secured their fifth podium finish in as many tournaments this season after defeating the Australian national rugby sevens team to claim third place. Meanwhile, Argentina’s national rugby sevens team recovered from a disappointing opening day to finish fifth despite having won the previous four tournaments in Vancouver.
South Africa and Fiji are now tied at the top of the men’s standings in the World Rugby Sevens Series, although Fiji holds a slight edge on match points scored so far this season. The team that tops the standings heading into the three-tournament World Championship series will automatically avoid relegation to HSBC SVNS 2.
In the women’s competition, the Black Ferns Sevens continued their dominance by securing their fourth tournament title in five events this season. The victory extended their lead over Australia women’s national rugby sevens team to eight points in the series standings.
Captain Risi Pouri-Lane credited the team’s success to their commitment to constant improvement.
“The biggest thing for us is that you can never get complacent and there are always things you can work on and get better at. They make a big difference in the long run,” she said.
Elsewhere, the United States women’s national rugby sevens team defeated France women’s national rugby sevens team in the third-place play-off to end a nine-tournament wait for a podium finish.
Hosts, Canada women’s national rugby sevens team thrilled the home crowd by finishing fifth, while Japan women’s national rugby sevens team secured seventh place after an entertaining play-off against Great Britain women’s national rugby sevens team.
The series now heads to New York City for the final event of the regular World Rugby Sevens Series season, where the race for top spot is expected to intensify.
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