France Men and New Zealand Women win HSBC SVNS in LA; Canada Women Finish 4th, Men Finish 12th; Hong Kong Pools Announced
The Canadian women continue to roll along with a 4th place finish to follow the 3rd in Vancouver. They now sit in 5th place in the series standings, 2 points behind USA. The bottom four teams facing the relegation tournament are Brazil, South Africa, Japan and Spain. There are two tournaments left before the Madrid final, Hong Kong and Singapore. The pools for Hong Kong (Apr 5-7) have been announced, the women are in a pool with USA, Japan and Spain.
The men’s team finished last, their 4th cellar finish in 5 tournaments. With only 12 series points they are a certainty for the relegation tournament and their focus now has to be to prepare for that tournament. They will need to finish in the top 4 in the 8 team relegation tournament to ensure their survival on the series next year. Currently the bottom four teams in the relegation zone are Canada, Samoa, Spain and Great Britain. USA are only one point above Great Britain in 8th place. The Hong Kong pool for Canada is a tough one, France, Fiji, Australia.
from World Rugby
Antoine Dupont inspired France win first men’s HSBC SVNS title in 19 years with 21-0 victory in final over Great Britain in Los Angeles, while New Zealand beat Australia 29-14 with a Michaela Blyde hattrick to claim women’s title
- Antoine Dupont inspired France win first men’s HSBC SVNS title in 19 years with 21-0 victory in final over Great Britain in Los Angeles
- New Zealand beat Australia 29-14 with a Michaela Blyde hattrick to claim women’s title
- Hosts USA women and Ireland men secure third place finishes
- Argentina and Australia top men’s and women’s standings respectively but see their leads reduced
- The sixth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 takes place in Hong Kong China on 5-7 April
Fans in the proposed venue for the Olympic Games LA 2028 rugby sevens competition enjoyed three days of non-stop action as France men and New Zealand women ultimately claimed the HSBC SVNS Los Angeles titles at Dignity Health Sports Park.
France secured the men’s gold medals with three unanswered tries in a 21-0 victory over Great Britain to end a 19 year wait for a title, with their only previous victory coming on home soil in Paris back in 2005 and having lost all six finals they have contested since then.
Antoine Dupont was the headline act as he joined the squad in Vancouver last week, and since his arrival the French have won bronze and gold to move up to fourth in the SVNS standings.
New Zealand’s women backed-up their victory in Vancouver last weekend as Michaela Blyde’s hat-trick powered the Black Ferns Sevens to a 29-14 victory over rivals Australia to take their second gold medal of HSBC SVNS 2024 in as many weeks.
In the men’s s third place match, Ireland comfortably beat Spain by 24-7 after leading 19-0 at the break. Meanwhile the USA secured the women’s bronze on home turf with victory by 21-7 against Canada, their best finish of HSBC SVNS 2024 so far.
Three of the four men’s semi-finalists had never won a SVNS event previously, demonstrating the increasing competitiveness of international rugby sevens and giving fans around the globe excitement that come July the Olympic rugby sevens medals could be claimed by any team in the line-up.
France just held on to win 26-24 over Ireland in their semi-final after Dupont had showed great pace to race away from three Irish opponents and open the scoring with his third try of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Great Britain won a last-minute penalty to hold on for a 10-7 win against Spain to advance to the final.
Elsewhere, fourth seed New Zealand lost 12-5 to Samoa in the ninth-place playoff to finish tenth, their worst of the season.
READ MEN’S DAY THREE REPORT >>
Both sides went into the women’s final unbeaten but brilliance from Blyde, plus scores from Risi Pouri-Lane and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, proved the difference for New Zealand as they closed the gap with leaders Australia in the SVNS table to just four points.
It capped off a bumper day of women’s action at HSBC SVNS Los Angeles with three knockout games all taking place on one day, Australia edging hosts USA to make the final while New Zealand beat Canada convincingly in their semi-final.
Elsewhere South Africa and Brazil finished sixth and seventh respectively to earn valuable rankings points in the fight to avoid the end of season relegation play-offs and showcase the growing strength in depth in women’s sevens as both teams overcame Olympic bronze medallists Fiji and Brazil finished on a high with a win over Perth champions Ireland.
READ WOMEN’S DAY THREE REPORT >>
France’s William Iraguha said: “I’m so proud of the group. We worked so hard for this and we’ve been waiting for it for such a long time. Last year we lost in the final, it was my first final personally, but I think we all had this feeling that it must be today.
“I don’t think I have really realised yet. When I get back home and spend time with my family I’ll get to realise what has happened. I don’t think I have much more words to explain how I feel.”
“Everybody played their part and we won. It’s a wonderful feeling… I’m so, so happy, I finally won a tournament.”
New Zealand’s hattrick hero Blyde said: “I’m so proud of the girls. We’ve been looking for that kind of consistency the whole season, so to do that over the last two weeks feels really good.
“Obviously we’re building for the big picture of the Olympic Games but this is one of the stepping stones towards it and the big goal now is to continue this consistency.
“It’s tough at the top but we love having the target on our back and the Aussies have been incredible this whole season so to chase them has been quite fun and we’re just really stoked to get the win today.”
VIEW CURRENT SVNS 2024 STANDINGS >>
Australia maintain their position at the top of the HSBC SVNS 2024 standings on 90 points but see their lead cut to four points over New Zealand on 86 points, with France in third on 74 points. Brazil, South Africa, Japan and Spain currently occupy the bottom four places however Brazil are only one point behind Great Britain following their recent strong form.
Argentina still have a healthy 20 point lead in the men’s standings despite failing to reach the medal podium for the first time this season in Vancouver. Argentina have 90 points ahead of Ireland on 70 points and Fiji in third place with 64 points. France’s victory in LA moves them up to fourth on 56 points. The bottom four places in the men’s standings are held by Great Britain, Spain, Samoa and Canada, although Great Britain are only a point away from the USA following their cup final appearance in LA.
VIEW HSBC SVNS 2024 CALENDAR >>
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 men’s and women’s team with the most cumulative series points after seven events will become league winners in Singapore, while the top eight placed teams at the end of the Singapore event will earn their place in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final, where the women’s and men’s SVNS champions will be crowned in Madrid.
The four lowest ranked men’s and women’s teams after the seventh round in Singapore will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a high stakes promotion and relegation tournament in Madrid, meaning every match and every point counts throughout the HSBC SVNS, which is proving to be more competitive than ever in 2024.
The best 12 men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams in the world now move on to Hong Kong for the sixth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 on 3-5 April as the race to become league winners in Singapore gathers pace.
The pools for the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens were drawn by Fijian sevens legend Waisale Serevi at the conclusion of the LA event and the famous stadium can look forward to some mouthwatering clashes.
France face double Olympic champions Fiji in men’s Pool A, alongside Australia and Canada. Pool B sees current SVNS leaders Argentina together with LA finallists Great Britain, USA and reigning SVNS champions New Zealand. Ireland, Spain, Samoa and South Africa are in Pool C.
The women’s draw pits Vancouver finallists New Zealand and France against each other in Pool A with Brazil and Great Britain. Current SVNS leaders Australia are in Pool B with South Africa, Ireland and Fiji. USA and Canada will renew their rivalry in Pool C alongside Japan and Spain.
Before that the second round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger will take place in Montevideo, Uruguay next weekend on 8-10 March as 12 men’s and women’s teams will continue the battle to secure a top-four position and a place at the all important promotion-relegation play-off competition in Madrid for a chance to reach the HSBC SVNS 2025.
Canada Women Through to Cup Quarter-Final; Men’s Semi-Finals France v Ireland and Spain v Great Britain
The Canadian women started Day 2 with a 31-0 win over Spain before closing out the pool stage with a close 22-19 loss to hosts USA. Canada finished 2nd in the pool and will face France on Day 3 in the Cup quarter-finals.
The pain continues for the Canadian men’s 7s program as they lost to Fiji 40-0 to start the day, then lost to Great Britain 31-14 in the final pool match. They lost to NZ 19-7 in the 9th place semi-final and will wrap up the tournament tomorrow in the 11th/12th place final against South Africa. Overall they have accumulated a -86 point differential in the tournament.
Krissy Scurfield try vs USA
Krissy Scurfield fights back for @RugbyCanada #HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSLAX pic.twitter.com/c0RgqnJumv
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) March 3, 2024
The surprise team of the tournament has been Spain, they have reached the men’s Cup semi-final and will face Great Britain while France and Ireland battle in the other semi-final. The women’s quarter-final match ups are France v Canada, New Zealand v Ireland, USA v South Africa, Australia v Brazil.
from World Rugby
Spain reach first ever men’s HSBC SVNS semi-final as part of an all European line-up which sees France v Ireland and Spain v Great Britain. Women’s quarter-finals are France v Canada, New Zealand v Ireland, USA v South Africa and Australia v Brazil
- Spain reach first ever men’s semi-final with comeback victory over Fiji at HSBC SVNS 2024 in Los Angeles
- All European men’s semi-finals line-up sees France v Ireland and Spain v Great Britain
- Women’s quarter-finals: France v Canada, New Zealand v Ireland, USA v South Africa, Australia v Brazil
- Antoine Dupont scores opening try as France beat hosts USA to reach semi-finals
- Play begins at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Sunday with the finals at 17:43, tickets available from svns.com
It was an action-packed day full of plot twists and high drama at the HSBC SVNS in Los Angeles as the cast of rugby sevens stars dazzled to produce shock results and thrilling performances.
VIEW HSBC SVNS LA RESULTS, FIXTURES & POOLS >>
At the end of a day full of firsts in the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 at Dignity Health Sports Park, all four teams left in the race for the men’s title are from Europe.
There were scenes of elation as Spain completed a stunning comeback to beat Fiji by 21-19 and reach their first cup semi-final in HSBC SVNS history at the twelfth attempt having lost their previous 11 quarter-final appearances.
Two cards were the undoing of a five-man Fiji side that had led 19-0 at the half-time whistle. In a quarter final stage full of upsets, Ireland also knocked out HSBC SVNS series leaders Argentina and Great Britain beat Australia.
The Irish, who themselves had only scraped through Pool A, beat Los Pumas by 14-24 to take their place against France in the semi-finals, while Great Britain scored at the death to win 26-19 and book their semi-final date with Spain.
France broke home fans hearts, beating the USA 14-0 in the quarter-final as Antoine Dupont continued his impressive conversion to rugby sevens, opening the scoring with a solo try.
Spain’s Francisco Cosculluela said: “First time we’ve got to the semi-finals so it’s history for us. I am feeling very, very emotional because this group has trained too hard, too much, and the work is paying off. We are very happy, very happy. We want more. We want to go the final, we want to win the semi so we’re not done yet.”
“I always dreamed of beating Fiji, always watching them on the TV when I was little, and now I’m here in LA against them and to win the semi-final. Very happy for the team.”
There were also unexpected results in the women’s competition as South Africa progressed to the quarter-final stage for the first time this season after a surprise 19-7 victory over Olympic bronze medallists Fiji in Pool A.
Vancouver champions New Zealand took top spot in the pool after three wins from three, but the faltering Fijiana lost to both South Africa and Brazil to fall out of the knockout places.
Elsewhere, Australia waltzed to the summit of Pool B and hosts USA held off a lively Canada to top Pool C, the former facing Brazil in the next round with the USA playing South Africa. France will take on Canada and New Zealand face Ireland in the remaining quarter-finals.
New Zealand’s Tyla King (nee Nathan-Wong) who became all-time top point-scorer in women’s SVNS today said: “That’s pretty awesome to hear that, especially when most of those points come from the right boot and not from scoring tries.”
“I think it’s been awesome programming in the first place by the New Zealand management over the years to be able to keep us girls healthy and out there,” she added when asked about the secret to her longevity. “Obviously I’ve had my fair few injuries over the years and missed a couple of seasons here or there. I think just having that pure love for the game too and wanting to stay competitive with these young ones too.”
READ WOMEN’S DAY TWO REPORT >>
Prior to Los Angeles, Argentina held a 24 point lead in the men’s standings, having claimed three gold and one silver medals from the opening four rounds. Argentina have 78 points, ahead of Ireland and Fiji on 54 points.
Australia top the women’s standings with 72 points ahead of New Zealand in second on 66 points and France a further four points behind on 62 points.
VIEW CURRENT SVNS 2024 STANDINGS >>
The action continues at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Sunday with women’s quarter-finals from 10:14. The semi-finals are scheduled at 13:46 and the event reaches its climax with the women’s and men’s finals at 17:43 and 18:32 respectively.
Ireland, USA, France Top Men’s Pools After Day One – NZ, Australia, USA Top Women’s Competition
Each team played one match on Friday to kick off the tournament, pool play resumes on Saturday. Canada women defeated Great Britain 20-10 to start their tournament, the men lost to France 24-7.
Carissa Norsten Try
From one end of the field to the other, the pace is breathtaking! ⚡️
Could you catch Carissa Norsten? #HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSLAX | @RugbyCanada pic.twitter.com/YsGVdMohYa
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) March 2, 2024
From World Rugby
There was much for the home fans to shout about under the Friday night lights as both USA teams recorded crowd-pleasing victories to set up an exciting weekend ahead at HSBC SVNS Los Angeles
- Opening round of matches completed as the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 began in Los Angeles on Friday
Historic day for women’s SVNS with wins for hosts USA, leaders Australia, France, Brazil, New Zealand and Canada - Men’s victories for USA, France, Fiji, Ireland, leaders Argentina and Australia
- Antoine Dupont scores impressive try for France in commanding win over Canada
- Play begins at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Saturday with tickets available at svns.com
- History was made on the opening night of the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 in Los Angeles as the 12 best women’s teams in the world competed alongside the men’s teams in a combined tournament for the first time in the USA.
There was much for the home fans to shout about under the Friday night lights as both USA teams recorded crowd-pleasing victories to set up an exciting weekend ahead at the Dignity Health Sports Park, the proposed venue for rugby sevens in the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
VIEW HSBC SVNS LA RESULTS, FIXTURES & POOLS >>
Australia lead the women’s standings and began their HSBC SVNS Los Angeles weekend in style, defeating Ireland by 31-0 after a fourth-place finish in Vancouver.
Righting the wrongs of their final loss on home soil in Perth against the same opposition, Australia scored five tries to take an early lead in Pool B.
Hosts USA, last champions on US soil in 2020, eased to a 40-5 victory over Spain in their Pool C opener, while last week’s gold medallists New Zealand also started strongly with a 41-5 demolition of South Africa in Pool A.
Brazil won their opening game against Olympic bronze medallists Fiji 12-5 to build on the improvements made in Vancouver.
Australia’s Sharni Smale celebrating her fiftieth tournament appearance said: “They crushed our dream obviously in Perth. We always speak about winning or learning and we had some big learnings. We definitely went out there and attacked it the way Australia normally play and we got those combos right. We’ve only played one game today and we’ll play two tomorrow and then three the next day and we’ll be better off for it.”
READ WOMEN’S DAY ONE REPORT >>
In the men’s competition USA won an enthralling battle by 31-12 with Samoa in Pool B to delight the home crowd.
A brace from captain Kevon Williams on his 50th tournament took the Eagles to victory and the summit of Pool B, with Australia and New Zealand to play tomorrow.
Meanwhile, defending LA champions New Zealand lost their Trans-Tasman tie with Australia by 17-24 in Pool B. The Aussies finished tenth last week in Vancouver but a red card for Fehi Fineanganofo helped them to victory over last week’s silver medallists.
Pool A saw plenty of drama as Argentina recovered to win 28-21 in a tense battle with Spain, while Ireland were dominant in their 17-0 win over South Africa to take an early Pool A lead.
Fiji and France were the victors in Pool C, the former snatching a 15-12 win over GB before Canada were defeated 24-7 by the latter.
Former World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year Antoine Dupont continued where he left off in Vancouver last weekend, playing every minute of Fance’s win over Canada and capping another impressive performance by scoring a last minute try.
USA’s Madison Hughes said: “We love playing in front of our home fans. It’s a good environment here on a Friday night but hopefully on Saturday they’ll take it to a whole new level and really get behind us because we are moving in the right direction and with some good home support we can make it a really special weekend.”
Argentina hold a 24 point lead in the men’s standings, having claimed three gold and one silver medals from the opening four rounds. Argentina have 78 points, ahead of Ireland and Fiji on 54 points.
Australia top the women’s standings with 72 points ahead of New Zealand in second on 66 points and France a further four points behind on 62 points.
VIEW CURRENT SVNS 2024 STANDINGS >>
The action continues at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Saturday with the last two rounds of pool matches before the men’s quarter-finals take place from 19:26 and the last match kicking off at 20:32.
Finals day on Sunday will begin at 09:30 with the women’s quarter-finals from 10:14. The semi-finals are scheduled from 13:46 and the event reaches its climax with the women’s and men’s finals at 17:43 and 18:32 respectively.
LA 7s Kicks Off on Friday 5:58pm PT – Roster Changes for Men and Women
The LA 7s kicks off this Friday with the women facing Great Britain at 5:58pm PT and the men facing France at 7:16pm PT.
There are a few changes to the squads from the Vancouver 7s, for the men Phil Berna and David Richard are out and in are Kobe Faust and Liam Bowman. For the women, out are Florence Symonds and Charity Williams and in are Sabrina Poulin and Taylor Perry.
from World Rugby
Los Angeles is set to welcome the world’s best 12 men’s and – for the first time ever – the 12 women’s rugby sevens teams to Dignity Health Sports Park on 1-3 March for the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024.
Fans attending the revamped HSBC SVNS, which sees men’s and women’s teams compete equally across eight iconic destinations, will be treated to a festival of world class sport, music, entertainment, culture and cuisine as the global celebration of rugby sevens lands in La La Land.
The 2028 Olympic host city will witness the speed, strength and incredible skill of many of the players and teams who will showcase the all action drama of rugby sevens at the 2024 Games in Paris in July.
Following last weekend’s fourth round in Vancouver the race to be crowned SVNS league champions at the seventh event in Singapore is hotting up.
Argentina are the men’s team to beat, holding a 24 point lead having claimed three gold and one silver medals from the opening four rounds. Argentina have 78 points, ahead of Ireland and Fiji on 54 points.
Australia maintain their position at the top of the women’s standings with 72 points but see their lead cut to six points by New Zealand in second on 66 points and France a further four points behind on 62 points.
VIEW CURRENT SVNS 2024 STANDINGS >>
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.
VIEW HSBC SVNS 2024 CALENDAR >>
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 SVNS champions will be crowned.
The four lowest ranked men’s and women’s teams after the seventh round in Singapore will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a high stakes promotion and relegation tournament in Madrid, meaning every match and every point counts throughout the HSBC SVNS, which is proving to be more competitive than ever in 2024.
The men’s relegation play-off positions are currently occupied by Canada, Spain, Great Britain and Samoa while the women’s teams currently in the bottom four are South Africa, Japan, Spain and Brazil.
The pools for LA have created some exciting match-ups. The men’s draw sees current SVNS leaders Argentina together with Ireland, South Africa and Spain in Pool A. Hosts USA are in Pool B together with reigning series champions New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. Vancouver bronze medallists France are in Pool C with double Olympic champions Fiji, Great Britain and Canada.
Meanwhile New Zealand, winners in Vancouver last weekend, are in women’s Pool A alongside Fiji, Brazil and South Africa. Current SVNS leaders Australia are drawn with France, Perth winners Ireland and Japan. Pool C sees hosts USA together with rivals Canada, Spain and Great Britain.
VIEW HSBC SVNS LAX FIXTURES & POOLS >>
Argentina men’s captain Santiago Alvarez said: “I am very proud of my team and we are very happy of this moment that we are passing but we are trying not to think too much about it and focus on what is coming. Now we are thinking about LA and the big tournament that is coming.
“The pools are very tough, every match we play is very tough and that’s why we’re focused on what’s coming, on our system and not thinking about what we’ve won.
USA women’s captain Naya Tapper said: “I cannot imagine how great this is going to be. This is the reason – the why – that we sacrifice so much to play this amazing sport it’s going to be an amazing experience to look in to the crowd and see our families, friends and the fans that support us. I just cannot wait.
“This event is going to be huge. You can expect a lot of great energy, fans in costumes, lots of tries. You’ll have a huge amount of Olympic athletes playing here in LA so this is an event you will not want to miss. Our hope for this weekend is the bring the gold medal home and to improve on our performance from last weekend.”
France men’s captain Paulin Riva said :“Last weekend in Vancouver was a good tournament for us with third place and we are happy but now it is time to work for LA. LA is always a good place for us and we are training well.
“It is very good for us to play with Antoine (Dupont). He’s a big player with a lot of skills and works hard on the pitch. It was a good start for him with three tries last weekend. We hope to win in LA this weekend and for Antoine to bring us extra confidence on the pitch, which is very important for us.
The new-look SVNS competition format means there will be more excitement, jeopardy and drama on the pitch than ever before and fans can look forward to a wealth of entertainment and fun around the venue too with next level experiences and Sophie Lloyd headlining the music line-up.
The action gets under way at 16:30 local time (GMT-8) on Friday, 09:30 on Saturday and 09:30 on Sunday, with the women’s and men’s finals at 17:43 and 18:32 on Sunday.