Cape Town 7s 2023

Men Finish in 7th Place; Women Finish in 6th Place in Cape Town

It was a big improvement for the men, going from 12th in Dubai to 7th in Cape Town. For the women it was a slight step down from 4th in Dubai to 6th in Cape Town.

Both teams were blanked in their Cup quarter-finals, the men losing to Argentina 33-0 and the women losing to NZ 41-0. The women lost their second match of the day to Fiji 19-17 to finish 5th, the men won their second match of the day 33-17 over France to finish 7th.

A quirk of the series this year is determining the 5th to 8th place finishers, the loser of the Cup quarter-finals traditionally would play in the Plate round and get 2 games to determine 5th to 8th, not any more. According to the new SVNS website, “The winners of the quarter-finals will take their place in the semi-finals, while the two ‘best’ losers will play-off for fifth place and the other two for seventh place” – it looks like they’re determining ‘best’ by their standings in the series. So even though NZ and South Africa lost their Cup quarter-final they were slotted into the 5th place final and Canada and France were slotted into the 7th place final. It doesn’t seem fair but it cuts down on the number of games.

The women drop from 4th to 5th in the series standings with Fiji nudging into 4th spot, Australia, France, NZ claiming the top 3. In the men’s competition Canada jump from 12th to 9th. The top of the table sees Argentina, South Africa and Fiji.

A concern for the Canadian men is they finished the tournament with 10 players. David Richard who was outstanding on Day 1 wasn’t in the Day 2 roster and after the Argentina match Jake Thiel and Phil Berna were gone as well. Cody Nhanala got his first start on the series in the win over France.

Men’s Tournament from World Rugby

Los Pumas Sevens lay down a marker to their opponents with a first title in Cape Town
Argentina claimed the HSBC SVNS 2024 series crown in Cape Town with a clinical win over Australia, a week after losing to South Africa in Dubai.

It was a fitting end to a weekend in which Los Pumas’ veteran Gastón Revol played his 100th tournament, and German Schulz scored his 100th international sevens try as the South American squad laid down a marker with a first-ever win in South Africa.

Argentina too hot to handle

Argentina were just too good for Australia as they added Cape Town gold to the silver they won in Dubai a week previously.

German Schulz opened the scoring with a long run-in, with Santiago Mare, Marcos Moneta and Matías Osadczuk also touching down in the first seven minutes as Australia struggled to keep pace with Los Pumas Sevens in the first period.

Australia’s cause was not helped when Nick Malouf was sin-binned for a high tackle.

They finally got on the scoreboard in the second half, as Nathan Lawson and Dietrich Roache cut the deficit. But player of the final Osadczuk’s second, his fourth in Cape Town, settled matters.

Tomas Elizalde and captain Santiago Alvarez’s late scores were the icing on the cake, as they rounded off the tournament with a 45-12 win.

“I love, too, the way they play,” Los Pumas Sevens’ coach and former player Santiago Gomez Cora said. “We said they’re crazy because you put all the passion – they know how to play, obviously – they are a team that feel the way that they play. They’re a little crazy to play in that way.

“We’re very happy because we feel at home here at Cape Town. They support us, so thank you very much, everyone – hope to see you next time.”

Los Pumas Sevens had reached the final for the ninth time since Seville 2022, with an organised win over 26-19 win over Ireland. The scoreline would have been more convincing had the Irish not run in two scores in the final minute, when the match was already lost.

James Turner described Australia’s 24-7 semi-final win over Fiji to reach their first-ever sevens final in South Africa as “pretty special”.

“We definitely had a slower start last week, and this week we really wanted to aim up,” he said.

Earlier, Argentina’s Schulz had dived spectacularly under the posts to score his 100th sevens try as Los Pumas Sevens eased past day one’s surprise package Canada 33-0 in their last-eight match.

Fiji leave it late to claim bronze final

For the second time on finals day, Fiji left it very late – but claimed the bronze final with a try on the hooter at the end of the second half to beat a dogged Ireland 14-7

Captain Joseve Talacolo said Fiji still had work to do. “We have to work as a team and a lot on our defence. When we go back to Fiji, we’ll going to regroup and focus on our next tournament in Perth.”

An end-to-end momentum-swinger of a quarter-final between Fiji and France saw the Olympic champions race to a 17-0 lead; France, down to six with pull it back to 17-14 by halftime, then lead 24-17; before Kaminieli Rasaku ran in for a try with seconds left on the clock. Terio Tamani converted to take the game into golden point. A crazy game only ended when Pilipo Bukayaro broke clear.

Fiji coach Ben Gollings paid tribute to his playmaker: “He’s a player who has just been getting better and better. He’s building his confidence game by game, it’s fantastic to see. He’s [got] big shoes to fill … replacing the likes of Jerry Tuwai in this game and he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Ireland’s Terry Kennedy had bagged a first-half hat-trick, as Ireland played a near-perfect opening seven minutes, racing into a 26-0 midpoint lead en route to a historic 36-21 win over New Zealand.

New Zealand end difficult weekend on a bright note

After another big weekend in Dubai, South Africa’s wait for a title on home soil will continue for another year. They finished the Cape Town Sevens in sixth-place, after a 29-7 loss to New Zealand. Their championship hopes were ended earlier in the day, as Australia silenced the crowd with a 28-0 victory in the quarter-finals.

Injury-hit Canada, with only 10 players fit for their final outing, were unable to repeat their day one heroics, but finished with a thoroughly deserved 33-17 win over France to claim seventh – a massive improvement on their 12th-place finish in Dubai.

After beating USA 21-14 earlier on finals day, Great Britain ended their Cape Town campaign with a show as they beat Spain 31-7 to claim ninth place.

Samoa, 2022 Cape Town champions, scored one of the tries of the tournament in the 11th-place play-off against USA, going from deep in trouble in one corner of their in-goal area, via a series of passes, to a try in the opposite corner for Taitaifono Senio Tavita. But it couldn’t stop them finishing the 2023 tournament in 12th place, as they went down 24-19, after earlier losing 24-17 to Spain.

Women’s Tournament from World Rugby

Australia claimed a first-ever Cape Town title, and their second HSBC SVNS 2024 series win in a row, with a gutsy win over France in the showpiece final.

Dubai champions Australia added the Cape Town crown to their sevens collection on Sunday – but they did it the hard way, after Maddison Levi was sent off for a high tackle at the end of the first-half.

On a dramatic finals day in Cape Town, Michaela Blyde became the second woman in sevens history to reach the 200 try mark, but a week after their 41-match winning streak was ended by Australia in Dubai, the Black Ferns were outperformed by France in the semi-finals at Cape Town Stadium.

The first person to congratulate Blyde on reaching the milestone? The first woman to pass that figure, team-mate Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.

Australia claim back-to-back titles the hard way

Last week in Dubai, Australia survived three minutes in the semi-final against France with six players following a red card for Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea. In Cape Town, they survived the entire second half a player down to claim a first-ever title in South Africa at the end of a dramatic final that finished 29-26.

Levi was sent off for a high tackle at the end of a first period that lasted three minutes beyond the seven. They had raced into a 22-0 lead in the first six minutes, before Les Bleues’ got on the scoreboard.

But a double for Anne-Cecile Ciofani in the extended first half, and a third for Carla Neisen pulled France back to within three. Kaitlin Shave then put Australia out of sight, just as Levi had in Dubai the previous Sunday, despite Joanna Grisez’s late, late score.

Winning captain Charlotte Caslick said: “It was a really gutsy effort, finishing the game with only six players. We played France last week and also had a red card. To do that two weeks in a row it was just so brave from the girls.

“We love coming to Cape Town, so to win here and go back to back – we haven’t done that for a really long time – it’s set our season up really well.”

Caslick and Isabelle Nasser had earlier both scored twice in the semi-final, as Australia eased into the final with a 33-5 win over USA; after making it 15 quarter-final wins in the last 16 appearances with their 29th victory in a row over Ireland, a 24-14 result.

And France held off a ferocious New Zealand fightback, even scoring a desperately needed try when reduced to six players, to win just a third sevens series semi-final in their history, as they beat the Black Ferns’ 24-12.

Tries from Anne-Cecile Ciofani, Chloe Jacquet and Lili Dezou were enough to get them to the final four, despite a late try from Fiji’s Reapi Ulunisau, which dragged the scores back to 19-17.

New Zealand finish with bronze

Jorja Miller touched down for just the second time in Cape Town, and Blyde added a 201st try as New Zealand beat USA 19-7 to finish the weekend in third place.

The third try-scorer in the decider, Risi Pouri-Lane, said: “We came out here to win overall, but to be able to finish like this, on a win. We know we’ve got more in us. It’s a long season ahead, so we’ll keep building.”

Earlier, Blyde’s 200th international sevens try, which helped New Zealand beat Canada 41-0, was not her most eye-catching effort. But it was fully earned, as she fought her way through two tacklers to the line.

“It was only fitting that it was the probably hardest try I’ve ever scored in my life and it had to be the 200,” Blyde said afterwards. “It’s been a goal of mine for a while. The next one is to be in front of Portia, but that might take a while, if she doesn’t retire before me.”

Meanwhile, USA captain Naya Tapper scored the first and the last try, as they booked their place in the last four with a 19-12 win over a much-improved Great Britain.

Fiji sneak fifth at the death

Reapi Ulunisau rushed over on the cusp of full-time as Fiji came from behind to beat Canada – with Olivia Apps sent off for a high tackle – 19-17 in the fifth-place play-off.

Ireland finished seventh, after seeing off Great Britain 17-5.

Marina Fioravanta’s after-the-hooter try ensured Brazil ended their Cape Town challenge in ninth-place, as they came from behind to beat Japan 15-14 under the hot afternoon sun.

Injury-hit South Africa finished bottom of the table, despite going ahead early in their play-off against Spain. But Ayanda Malinga’s converted early try was the only high spot as the hosts lost 21-7, after opening their day with a 27-7 defeat against Japan.


Canadian Men Shine on Day 1 with Wins Over NZ and Samoa to Finish 2nd in Pool; Women 1-2 and Finish 3rd in Pool

The Canadian men exceeded expectations and defeated NZ and Samoa to finish 2nd in the pool and advance to the Cup round. It’s only the 4th win over NZ in 48 matches. Cooper Coats and David Richard were standouts for Canada and Jack Carson’s solo try to put the dagger in NZ was a thing of beauty. Regardless of Day 2 results Canada are guaranteed to be out of last place after the tournament. The four teams not making the Cup round are Spain, USA, Samoa and Great Britain. The Cup round matchups are Canada v Argentina, Ireland v NZ, Australia v South Africa and Fiji v France.

The Canadian women went 1-2 but scraped into the Cup round as the best 3rd place finisher, that earns them a Cup quarter-final vs NZ, the other Cup round matches are Australia v Ireland, France v Fiji and Great Britain v USA. Not making the Cup round are South Africa, Japan, Brazil and Spain.

Men’s Results

Canada 19 – NZ 7
Scorers: David Richard (1T), Cooper Coats (1T, 2C), Jack Carson (1T)

Canada 33 – Samoa 7
Scorers: Cooper Coats (1T, 3C), Jack Carson (1T), Matt Oworu (1T), Lockie Kratz (1T, 1C), Kal Sager (1T)

Australia 26 – Canada 7
Scorers: Lockie Kratz (1T, 1C)

Women’s Results

USA 21 – Canada 14
Scorers: Olivia Apps (1T), Fancy Bermudez (1T), Chloe Daniels (1C), Asia Hogan-Rochester (1C)

Canada 40 – South Africa 0
Scorers: Krissy Scurfield (1T), Olivia Apps (1T), Alysha Corrigan (1T), Charity Williams (1T), Asia Hogan-Rochester (1T, 1C), Shalaya Valenzuela (1T), Chloe Daniels (4C)

France 19 – Canada 17
Scorers: Caroline Crossley (1T), Carissa Norsten (1T), Piper Logan (1T), Asia Hogan-Rochester (1C)

from World Rugby

MEN’S TOURNAMENT

Defending Cape Town champions Samoa failed to qualify for the quarter-finals on a day of shocks on a hot and windy opening day of the second leg of HSBC SVNS 2024.

Samoa finished bottom of a tight Pool C, as New Zealand scraped into the quarter-finals as one of the best third-place finishers, and Canada sprang not one but two early surprises.

Ireland, too, rounded off the day with an unexpected win to confirm their place in the last eight, along with Argentina, Australia, hosts South Africa, Fiji and France.

POOL A: Nortje shines as hosts book quarter-final berth

South Africa have unearthed a real talent in Quewin Nortje as they set out on their quest for a first home title since 2015. The flyer added two more tries to the four he scored on debut in Dubai last week, as they beat Great Britain 19-5 in the opener.

“It’s such a privilege to be here. A first Cape Town sevens is just an incredible experience,” Nortje said after making his first appearance in front of a joyous home crowd who had started the party early.

Lucas Lacamp scored two tries in quick succession as USA came back to level the scores after being 14-0 down – but touchdowns for Impi Visser and Ronald Brown in the closing minutes ensured the hosts went two for two, winning 24-14.

Zac Ward notched a double as Ireland made their bow in Cape Town with a 31-0 win over USA. Then it was Harry McNulty’s turn to run the show, scoring either side of half-time as the Irish added a second win to their Cape Town campaign, 19-14 over Great Britain.

Winless Great Britain needed to beat winless USA in their final match of the day by 31 points to book passage to the last eight, at the expense of New Zealand. It was always a long shot, and they didn’t manage it. Instead, at the end of a 26-26 thriller, the match went to golden point. A Tom Emery touchdown after Marcus Tupuola was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on, gave Great Britain a win and condemned last year’s bronze medallists to a bottom-of-the-pool finish.

But the best was saved for the final match of Pool A, the final match of the day, as Ireland shocked the hosts to edge a high-intensity encounter 14-12. Afterwards, a victorious Gavin Mullin said Ireland had targeted the hosts: “We definitely had an eye on this one, we knew it was going to be a good atmosphere, good crowd, against really good opposition – obviously, last week they won – so we just wanted to take it to them.”

POOL B: Revol celebrates 100th tournament

“I’m really proud of everything that has happened over the years,” Los Pumas’ veteran Gastón Revol said after his first outing at his 100th tournament ended with a 21-7 win over France. “I’m most happy because of the win today. The present is always the most important thing so it’s very good for the 100, but we are here now in Cape Town, we want to go game by game.”

It was the two sides’ second match of the day. Earlier, two tries in the first four minutes for Luciano Gonzalez set Los Pumas on the way to a 31-12 win over Spain.

Meanwhile, Rayan Rebbadj kicked a decisive late penalty with the clock in the red, as France – who struggled with discipline all day – held off a Fiji comeback to win their opening match 17-14. They had raced into a 14-0 first-half lead, before the Pacific Island side roared back to level the scores in the second.

A hat-trick for Pilipo Bukayaro helped get Fiji back on track, as they eased past Spain 33-7 in their second match. And a 19-12 win over Argentina, despite a red card for Josese Batirerega for a high tackle, saw them end the day top of the pool.

France’s indiscipline threatened to cost them against a determined and inventive Spain, as they conceded penalty after penalty with the clock ticking down. But they survived to win a second close encounter 21-19.

POOL C: Pool of shocks

The All Blacks Sevens’ were caught napping against Canada first up, losing 19-7. Leroy Carter then scored a first-half hat-trick, as New Zealand – their “tournament on the line”, according to Scott Curry – atoned for that opening-match defeat by putting Australia to the sword, winning 35-5 with all their points coming in the first seven minutes.

But their day ended with a 21-14 loss against Samoa. The only saving grace: Curry’s 14th-minute converted try that gave them a bonus point that meant they finished third in Pool C, with other results seeing them through to the quarter-finals.

After their win over New Zealand, an inspired Canada then sprang a second shock, beating defending champions Samoa 33-7.

Cooper Coats said after the win over Samoa: “It’s pretty unbelievable – the last time we beat them was probably about six years ago. We just wanted to improve on a bit of a disappointing weekend last weekend, so happy to get the job done.

“We’ve been together for a bit now. And now it’s just where we’re starting to get the confidence to put on some performances we’re proud of.”

If it was a bad day at the pools office for New Zealand, it was worse for Samoa. That loss to Canada was the their second in as many games. They were earlier beaten 27-7 by an organised Australia.

Canada – 12th in Dubai a week ago – finished day one with a 26-7 defeat against Australia, but finished second in the pool to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Sunday’s quarter finals will see Argentina play Canada, Ireland face New Zealand, Australia play South Africa and Fiji take on France.

WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

Three sides finish day one in South Africa with perfect winning records

Australia’s Maddison Levi scored her 100th sevens try as the Dubai champions won three from three on the opening day at the Cape Town Sevens.

Levi added another five touchdowns to the 12 she scored last weekend, to reach 100 tries in just 15 tournaments as the Australians set out their stall for a first-ever sevens series win in South Africa.

New Zealand and France, too, qualified for the quarter-finals with three wins from three.

Australia will face Ireland in the second quarter-final on Sunday, while New Zealand take on Canada, France will meet Fiji, and Great Britain will play USA.

POOL A: Australia at full throttle

Australia opened their Cape Town account with an imperious-looking 38-0 win over Spain, but the truth is that they had to work harder than the seedings suggested, as Spain held them to 12-0 at half-time.

The Dubai champions stepped it up in their second outing against Japan, winning 54-0, as their all-round game clicked into gear.

And they beat Fiji 28-7, Adi Vani Buleki becoming the first opposition player to register a point against Australia in the pool phase of HSBC SVNS 2024.

Maddison Levi described becoming the fastest Australian player to reach 100 sevens tries as ‘insane’, after ensuring quarter-final qualification with a double in their third and final match.

“I guess we always do really well in Dubai and coming to Cape Town, we’ve never won here,” she said. “We won the World Cup here, I guess it’s motivation to prove that we can do it on this soil. But we’ll take it as it comes.”

Earlier, Buleki scored two of Fiji’s six tries as they beat Japan 36-12. They then survived 10 minutes with a player disadvantage, after Ana Maria Naimasi was sent off, to beat Spain 14-10.

Japan rounded off their first day with a hard-fought 22-19 win over Spain.

POOL B: 200 beckons for Black Ferns Sevens’ Blyde

Michaela Blyde reached 199 international sevens tries 10 minutes into New Zealand Sevens’ 37-5 statement win over Great Britain in the opening match at Cape Town.

Six days after Australia had ended their winning streak at 41 matches in the Dubai final, New Zealand were clearly on a mission as they tore Great Britain apart. Brazil then made them work for a 22-12 win in their second match, before they eased past Ireland 33-7 to make it three from three and set up a possible second shot against Australia in the final.

After securing a quarter-final place, New Zealand’s teenage sensation Jorja Miller said: “Last week was a grinding tournament. We were pretty, not disappointed, but we knew we had better so to come out here today, get three, and be ready with some good prep and get into tomorrow.”

Ireland’s Aimee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe climbed to third in the sevens’ try-scorers list with a hat-trick as they beat Brazil 39-14. But the Irish came a cropper in their second outing, though they grabbed a losing bonus point late on as they went down 15-19 to Great Britain.

Great Britain raced away in the second half of their match against Brazil – the score went from 12-12 at halftime to 26-12 after four minutes of the second period, where the scoreboard stayed for the rest of the match.

POOL C: France want more after topping pool

France became the third team in Cape Town to go into finals day with a perfect pool phase record.

Their third match against Canada – a repeat of the bronze final in Dubai – was a thriller. Canada had a chance to level the scores at the death, after Chloe Daniels’ late try. But she pulled her conversion attempt wide, to let France off the hook and top the pool with a 19-17 win.

Earlier, Les Bleues had opened their campaign with a 29-7 win over hosts South Africa, Anne-Cecile Ciofani making one impossible try and scoring an 80m special as France came back after conceding an early lead.

And they had put on a pool play masterclass in their second outing of the day, as they beat last year’s Cape Town bronze medalists USA 31-0, despite a slightly wasteful first half, when they scored just 12 points, despite numerous entries into the danger zone.

“It was quite amazing having the crowd behind us. We started good, we just didn’t convert the last bit – handling errors and not keeping our ball,” South Africa’s Mathrin Simmers said on the touchline following the loss to France.

“[It’s] quite amazing playing with the best teams in the world, it’s really amazing having the girls here to showcase our talent,” she added.

South Africa lost their second match, against Canada, 40-0, and their third against USA 34-0.

USA’s Naya Tapper raced under the posts on the stroke of halftime, as they bagged a 14-0 halftime lead in their opening match against Canada. Alex Sedrick’s try early in the second half settled the match as a contest before Canada came back with two late tries, taking the final score to 21-14.


Cape Town 7s Kicks Off Tonight at 11pm PT: Canada vs USA at 11:44pm PT – Streamed on RugbyPass.TV

The second tournament of the series kicks off tonight, Friday Dec 8th at 11pm PT and can be watched on RugbyPass.TV

Canada women are playing USA at 11:44pm, South Africa at 2:06am, and France at 7:06am, all times are PT. Based on current form the team could go 2-1 or 1-2 depending on the USA result. France are probably the 2nd best team on the tournament right now, after Australia, based on the Dubai tournament last week. They crushed Canada in their first game last week. The USA and Canada are close, the match could go either way and Canada should beat South Africa. In either case the women should make it through to the Cup quarter-finals where all the action takes place on Day 2.

Canada men are playing NZ at 12:06am, Samoa at 2:28am, and Australia at 7:28am. It’s difficult to see Canada coming out with a win in this pool unless they can turn around their form from Dubai. They would have to play error free rugby and be tenacious on defence. At some point in the series they’ll have to start beating the top teams to make the cup round and get a better draw in the next tournament.

Currently the women are in 4th place and the men in 12th and last place.

The men’s record against NZ is 3 wins, 43 losses and 1 draw. against Samoa 11 wins and 51 losses, against Australia 8 wins, 50 losses and 2 draws. The women’s record against USA is 22 wins, 13 losses and 1 draw, against South Africa 7 wins and 0 losses, against France 25 wins, 9 losses and 2 draws, note France have won 4 of the last 5 against Canada with one draw.

There has only been one change to the rosters from Dubai with Alex Russell leaving with an injury and Matt Percillier taking his place.

CANADA’S WOMEN’S SEVENS ROSTER

1. Olivia De Couvreur (Ottawa, ON) – Ottawa Irish
6. Charity Williams (Toronto, ON) – Markham Irish
7. Florence Symonds (Hong Kong) – University of British Columbia
10. Fancy Bermudez (Edmonton, AB) – NorWester Athletic Association / Westshore RFC
11. Piper Logan (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Hornets / University of British Columbia
13. Krissy Scurfield (Canmore, AB) – University of Victoria
16. Alysha Corrigan (Charlottetown, PEI) – CRFC
19. Carissa Norsten (Waldheim, SK) – Kirin RFC / University of Victoria
21. Olivia Apps (Lindsay, ON) – Lindsay RFC
23. Shalaya Valenzuela (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
24. Asia Hogan-Rochester (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads RFC
35. Caroline Crossley (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
77. Chloe Daniels (Sutton, ON) Aurora Barbarians / Queen’s University

CANADA’S MEN’S SEVENS ROSTER

2. Jake Thiel (Victoria, B.C.) – James Bay AA
4. Phil Berna (Vancouver, B.C.) – Vancouver Rowing Club
6. Josiah Morra (Toronto, ON) – Castaway Wanderers / Toronto Saracens
8. Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) – Halifax Tars
12. David Richard (Milton, Ont.) – Mississauga Blues RFC
19. Matthew Oworu (Calgary, AB) – Pacific Pride
21. Max Stewart (Cape Town, RSA) – Pacific Pride
23. Thomas Isherwood (Okotoks, AB) – Foothills Lions RFC
33. Kal Sager (Peterborough, Ont.) – Peterborough Pagans / Trent University
44. Lockie Kratz (Victoria, B.C.) – Castaway Wanderers / NOLA Gold
59. Cody Nhanala (Ottawa, ON) – Ottawa Ospreys / Pacific Pride
88 Matt Percillier (Victoria, BC) – University of British Columbia
99. Jack Carson (Victoria, B.C.) – University of British Columbia

from World Rugby

  • Cape Town is the second round of HSBC SVNS 2024, featuring the top 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams in the world
  • Hosts South Africa men and Australia women lead the standings after winning the opening round in Dubai last weekend
  • New Zealand are reigning men’s and women’s champions, while Samoa men and New Zealand women are defending their Cape Town titles
  • The new-look HSBC SVNS features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final with promotion and relegation at stake, before the Olympic Games Paris 2024
  • The action begins at 09:00 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday, with the women’s and men’s finals at 18:43 and 19:23 on Sunday respectively
  • Remaining tickets are available from R150 at Ticketmaster here

The stage is set for HSBC SVNS Cape Town on 9-10 December at DHL Stadium as the world’s best 12 men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams are ready to showcase their incredible talents on the pitch.

Meanwhile a huge entertainment line-up, including live music, mass- participation sports activities and food from around the globe will create a vibrant festival experience for fans to enjoy off the pitch as the reinvigorated HSBC SVNS aims to take the Olympic sport to the next level.

On Wednesday the captains enjoyed a taste of Cape Town at the Oranjezicht City Farm Market in the shadows of the famous stadium, which hosted Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022.

An exciting new era for rugby sevens began in Dubai on 2-3 December as the highly anticipated HSBC SVNS 2024 kicked off with South Africa men and Australia women taking victory in the opening round to lead the early standings.

VIEW POOLS AND MATCH SCHEDULE >>

The HSBC SVNS CPT action kicks off at 09:00 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday with the pool matches. Day two begins at 09:00 on Sunday with the quarter-finals and culminates with the women’s gold medal final at 18:43, followed by the men’s final at 19:23 local time.

Tickets are available from R150 at Ticketmaster.

VIEW SQUADS >>

With the number of teams reduced from 16 to 12 in the men’s event this year the competition will be intense from start to finish.

South Africa’s hugely popular Blitzboks will play Ireland, USA and Great Britain in men’s Pool A. Last season’s runners-up Argentina face double Olympic champions Fiji alongside France and Spain in Pool B. Pool C sees reigning SVNS champions New Zealand take on Samoa, Australia and Canada.

South Africa men’s captain Selvyn Davids said: “We thought we had a tough pool in Dubai and how close it was indeed. Our ‘reward’ is yet another one this weekend and that is the beauty of this new format. Not only does every match count, the reality is that you could be defeated by any of the 12 teams if you are even slightly off your game.

“The Cape Town crowd has been a faithful one for us and it has been a while for them to celebrate a win. We have this opportunity now to give them another title. The Springboks showed the way in France, now we have a chance to make good as well.”

In the women’s competition, Australia will start Pool A in confident mood following their victory in Dubai last weekend and they will come up against Fiji, Japan and Spain. Pool B sees the current SVNS title holders New Zealand together with Ireland, Brazil and Great Britain. France were impressive bronze medallists in Dubai and they will take on Canada, USA and the hosts South Africa who were promoted from the Challenger last season and will be looking to make their mark on home turf in Pool C.

South Africa women’s co-captain Mathrin Simmers said: “It feels different for a number of reasons. We are at home of course and that always creates a special buzz. The fact that I missed last year’s tournament through injury adds to my excitement to play.

“The real anticipation for us, going into the second tournament as the newcomers onto the series, is to see if we can back up on what we did in Dubai last week. The squad felt good about the fact that we landed on our feet in the series, took some great teams to the wire and got our first win for the season. How excited that we now get another opportunity to do it all over again.”

The competition format replicates the Olympic model and sees the top two teams from each pool, plus the best two third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-finals from where it is knockout rugby.

VIEW HSBC SVNS 2024 CALENDAR >>

World Rugby’s revamped and rebranded global celebration of rugby sevens is taking place across eight iconic destinations and is set to supercharge the sport’s global appeal.

The new-look HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events – in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore – before the Grand Final in Madrid. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points after seven events will compete in the new ‘winner-takes-all’ Grand Final, where the women’s and men’s champions will be crowned.

Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.

The reimagined competition model means fans can expect even more excitement, entertainment and nail-biting jeopardy. And with the clock counting down until rugby sevens kicks off the Olympic Games in Paris on 24 July, 2024, the action will be hotter than ever on and off the pitch.

In line with World Rugby’s commitment to grow the women’s game, all HSBC SVNS events will see men’s and women’s teams sharing the platform equally to showcase their incredible strength, speed and skill on the biggest stages around the world.

Welcoming the teams and fans to Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, Executive Mayor of Cape Town said: “To all the players, coaching and management teams and, most importantly, the thousands of traveling fans who have made their way to Cape Town for the HSBC SVNS CPT, I wish you a very warm welcome to the Mother City.

“Sevens and Cape Town have a wonderful decade-old relationship, with our city putting on a show every year that must surely rank among the highlights of the season. For us, the annual SVNS tournament is one of the most important events on our calendar as the world tunes in to Cape Town during a magical time of the year and sees our city at its very best. We are ready to put on our best SVNS party yet, and our iconic DHL Stadium with its brand new pitch, is going to set a standard in this competition that will not easily be matched.”

WHERE TO WATCH >>

Fans can watch the HSBC SVNS action wherever you are in the world, either via broadcaster partners or online on RugbyPass TV. All matches taking place on pitch two in Cape Town will be live streamed on RugbyPass TV.

Posted in Front Page, National Men's 7s, National Women's 7s.

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