Singapore National Stadium is set to host the hotly anticipated seventh and final regular season round of HSBC SVNS 2024 on Friday, saturday and Sunday as the men’s and women’s League Winners will be crowned.
In perhaps the most competitive HSBC SVNS season ever, it is all to play for as New Zealand and Australia are equal on points at the top of the women’s standings, while Argentina’s men hold an eight point advantage over Ireland, with both teams looking for their first ever SVNS league winners title.
Singapore will also witness the battle to secure an all-important top-eight position and a place at the HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May to 2 June.
This year’s edition sees the women’s teams compete in Singapore for the first time as the tournament expands to three thrilling days of rugby sevens action with the top 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams from around the world sharing the platform to showcase their outstanding speed, skill and strength ahead of performing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in July.
All 24 captains gathered at Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island on Wednesday to sign autographs and take selfies with young players involved in the Furious 5’s community beach rugby event.
The women’s pool draw saw current standings leaders New Zealand in Pool A with Canada, Ireland – who won gold in Perth – and Spain. SVNS league title rivals Australia are drawn in Pool C together with Fiji, Great Britain and Brazil. Pool B includes the USA, who were finalists last time out in Hong Kong, alongside France, Japan and South Africa.
New Zealand women’s captain Risi Pouri-Lane said: “We didn’t get off to the best start this season but we’ve been building consistency really well since then. We’ve been on a journey since the start of the season.
“It would be huge to win the title this weekend, but there is still a bigger picture so we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We know what we need to get done this weekend and we just have to keep playing our game and sticking to what we know works for us.
“It’s great to have the women’s competition here in Singapore. The growth of women’s rugby has been awesome. We’re really looking forward to this weekend and we’re sure Singapore is going to put on a great show.”
Australia women’s captain Madison Ashby said: “It’s exciting to have the women’s competition here for the first time. We’ve heard a lot of great things about coming here so we can’t wait to get out in front of the crowd and experience the unreal atmosphere.
“It’s exciting to play for the League Winners title but we will just take it game by game and hopefully come out with the win at the end of the Series.”
Men’s SVNS standings leaders Argentina have been drawn in a tough looking Pool A together with recent Hong Kong winners New Zealand, Australia and Canada. League title contenders Ireland are in Pool C with double Olympic champions Fiji, the USA and Great Britain. Pool B is led by France, who have reached the podium at the last three rounds, alongside South Africa, Spain and Samoa.
Argentina men’s captain Santiago Alvarez said: “We are very happy to be in first position but we are trying not to think about that and just trying to be better as we are coming from two tournaments where we couldn’t play our game so we’re thinking how we can do better in Singapore.
“I’ve played several times here in Singapore, it’s a nice, closed stadium with a good atmosphere so we are looking forward to playing there this weekend. It is our objective to win the title but we are taking it match by match. It would be the best season in Los Pumas Sevens history.”
With less than 100 days until the Olympic Games Paris 2024 gets underway, the action in Singapore will be intense from start to finish with World Rugby’s revamped competition formula set to deliver fans even more excitement, jeopardy and entertainment.
Under the new HSBC SVNS 2024 model, seven regular-season events take place – in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and resulting in regular season League Winners being crowned in Singapore before a ‘winner-takes-all’ Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May to 2 June that will determine the HSBC SVNS champions.
The top eight teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their place in the 'winner takes all' Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May-2 June.
Seven men’s and women’s teams have already secured their spots in the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid. Great Britain and Brazil will battle for the all-important eighth spot in the women’s standings while the USA currently occupy eighth place in the men’s standings but face competition from Great Britain, Spain and Samoa.
The four lowest ranked men’s and women’s teams at the end of the Singapore event will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a high stakes promotion and relegation tournament in Madrid.
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