Table positions at stake as HSBC SVNS Series heads to Singapore

The new-look HSBC SVNS Series arrives in Singapore this weekend for the third round of the season, with all 16 teams across the men’s and women’s competitions vying for crucial league points ahead of the three-tournament Championship later this year.

Team captains arrived at the National Stadium today to launch the tournament ahead of what promises to be an action-packed weekend of sevens rugby. Fans can look forward to a vibrant festival atmosphere, complete with family-friendly activities, interactive fan zones, and community programmes running across both days of the event. Last year’s Singapore SVNS winners Fiji (men) and New Zealand (women) will be defending their titles and aiming to continue their strong performances this season.

After two rounds of HSBC SVNS Series 2026, it is a three-way tie at the top of the men’s leaderboard, with Cape Town winners South Africa, Fiji and Dubai champions New Zealand all locked on 32 points, while Olympic gold-medallists France, Australia and Argentina are chasing hard.

Returning South Africa captain Siviwe Soyizwapi – who could break USA legend Perry Baker’s try-scoring record of 29 touchdowns at the National Stadium on his ninth visit to Singapore – warned that his side weren’t sitting on their laurels after becoming the first team to claim back-to-back Cape Town titles in front of their home fans in December.

“Cape Town Sevens went well for us, but it's a new tournament in Singapore, so we can’t still think of that old victory,” Soyizwapi, who is back in the Blitzbok squad for the first time since the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles last May, said. “We have had to start all over again. And we had to work harder to be able to come into this weekend and give an even better performance.

“I'm feeling very excited going into this weekend,” he added. “It’s another opportunity for us to keep growing as a team. We want to build consistency. We want to get the new players coming into the squad to experience a bit of sevens.

“The camp that we had as a group, training together and trying to build that consistency and that synergy has been very exciting, which makes me excited for the weekend coming up.”

In the women’s competition, New Zealand and Australia traded first and second places in Dubai and Cape Town and currently sit top of the table with 38 points each, ahead of a chasing pack featuring Japan, USA, France, Fiji, and Olympic silver medallists Canada.

After losing their long-held desert crown in the opening stop of this year’s HSBC SVNS Series, Australia got their own back a week later in South Africa in early December.

Speaking at the captain’s photocall, Australia’s skipper Isabella Nasser said the players were excited to return to competition after the post-Cape Town Christmas and New Year break.

“We’ve prepared really well,” she said. “Off the back of Cape Town when we got the win, we had a really good Christmas preparation and then into a couple of weeks post-Christmas. And we’re really excited to kick off in Singapore – we love Singapore, it’s one of our favourite tournaments, so we’re really pumped. We’re getting used to the heat and the humidity!”

Blitzbok squad for Singapore

#1 Christie Grobbelaar – 24 tournaments, 200 points (40 tries)

#2 Ryan Oosthuizen – 58 tournaments, 245 points (49 tries)

#4 Zain Davids – 55 tournaments, 240 points (48 tries)

#5 Ricardo Duarttee – 21 tournaments, 325 points (24 tries, 100 conversions, 1 penalty)

#9 Nabo Sokoyi – 1 tournament, 10 points (2 tries)

#11 Siviwe Soyizwapi (captain) – 60 tournaments, 795 points (159 tries)

#12 Shilton van Wyk – 29 tournaments, 310 points (62 tries)

#15 Donavan Don – 11 tournaments, 89 points (17 tries, 2 conversions)

#16 Sebastiaan Jobb – 4 tournaments, 15 points (3 tries)

#19 David Brits – 11 tournaments, 50 points (10 tries)

#20 Renaldo Young – uncapped

#21 Zander Reynders – 8 tournaments, 20 points (4 tries)

#24 Tristan Leyds – 13 tournaments, 149 points (19 tries, 27 conversions)

#27 Luan Giliomee – uncapped

Blitzboks’ pool fixtures (SA times, all matches live on SuperSport)

Saturday

6.54am: Spain

10.20am: Great Britain

1.46pm: Fiji

Pools

A: South Africa, Spain, Great Britain, Fiji

B: New Zealand, Australia, France, Argentina

2026 HSBC SVNS schedule

29-30 November: Dubai - NZL/NZL

6-7 December: Cape Town - SA/AUS

31 January-1 February: Singapore

7-8 February: Perth

7-8 March: Vancouver

14-15 March: New York

17-19 April: Hong Kong (World Championship Series, Round 1)

29-31 May: Valladolid (World Championship Series, Round 2)

5-7 June: Bordeaux (World Championship Series, Round 3)