PREVIEW: The Singapore National Stadium will host the exciting climax to the regular season of HSBC SVNS 2025 on April 5 and 6 as the League Winners will be crowned.
The international rugby sevens action promises to be thrilling from the start as teams battle for vital ranking points with the top eight ranked men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles on May 3 and 4.
Following an epic penultimate round in Hong Kong China last weekend, all 12 men’s and women’s teams have arrived in Singapore where the 24 captains were treated to a scenic boat trip around the famous Marina Bay on Wednesday.
The pools for HSBC SVNS Singapore have produced some mouthwatering matchups.
The competition format involves four pools of three teams each, replicating the event format used in Cape Town during the second round of HSBC SVNS 2025, meaning every match counts from start to finish.
Women’s Olympic champions and SVNS leaders New Zealand are in Pool A with Brazil and China.
Reigning SVNS champions Australia will face Japan and Spain in Pool B.
Pool C sees Olympic medallists Canada and the USA together with Great Britain. France, Fiji and Ireland complete Pool D.
New Zealand women’s captain Sarah Hirini said: “We had some really good success in Hong Kong, and we want to continue that momentum here.
“The girls won here last year and I hope we can repeat the success this year too.
“It’s amazing that we have put ourselves in a good place to hopefully have a successful day one, which would see us bring the league title home as we did last year so we’re really excited by that.
“It’s something we’ll focus on and enjoy if that comes to fruition, but Brazil and China are tough and we need to rectify a few things from when we played them last weekend.”
Men’s SVNS title favourites Argentina are in Pool A with Great Britain and South Africa.
Former BlitzBoks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi said that he expects a fresh effort from his side following their disappointing ninth-place finish in Hong Kong:
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“Each tournament has its own merits, and you literally have to start all over again,” said Soyizwapi.
“[The] same here in Singapore, where we arrived with a fresh focus. We sat down after the Hong Kong tournament, cleared the air and then left that behind.
“You can’t assume things or aspects of play will go well just because it did so in a previous tournament, you need to start from scratch again.
“You might think there is doom and gloom but there is not, as we will go into this weekend with a mindset that things can be done, that we have a system that works and a process that can be trusted.”
On the other side of the scale is Zander Reynders, who is hoping to score his first try in the fifth tournament of his career.
The lanky forward who made his debut in Cape Town, where the BlitzBoks claimed gold, said the journey has been very rewarding, and he is keen to contribute.
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“I am learning so much from everyone,” said Reynders.
“Luckily for me, amongst the forwards, we have a couple of guys that have played 50 plus tournaments so I can tap into their experience all the time and that is great.
“They have been of great help as well, always willing to assist.”
Reynders made a couple of starts in Hong Kong, having played off the bench before that, something that has added to his desire to contribute to the team.
“There is just a wonderful culture of caring and sharing in the squad and it is almost inevitable that you would like to respond to that,” said Reynders.
“I can do that by delivering my best effort every time I step onto the field.
“This is a fantastic journey for me and I am so happy to be part of this.
“For now, I am hoping to stay in this system as I really feel at home with this group of people and their values.”
Olympic champions France will play Ireland and Kenya in Pool B.
Australia, Spain and Uruguay will battle it out in Pool C. Fiji, New Zealand and the USA are in Pool D.
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Argentina men’s captain Santiago Mare said: “Confidence is high after winning the last two tournaments but we are still looking forward to growing in Singapore, to doing things even better on the field and then get the results.
“Becoming league winners gives us a lot of motivation. It is the objective, and we are working a lot, just focusing on our gameplay and our actions, not on the result.
“Every pool is very hard, and every match is like a Final, so we have to be very clinical and play very well in the first two matches.
“It would mean a lot to become league winners, so we are focusing on that.”
New Zealand women and Argentina men lead the current SVNS standings after five rounds, having both claimed back-to-back titles in Vancouver and Hong Kong.
New Zealand head to the Singapore tournament with an eight-point lead over rivals Australia and will claim the SVNS league title should they top their pool and ensure a top-four finish in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Argentina are 12 points ahead of double Olympic champions Fiji and 14 points ahead of third-placed Spain, who has been a revelation this year.
Argentina will guarantee winning the league if they place sixth or higher in Singapore.
Alongside Singapore success teams are also playing for vital ranking points in the race to finish in the top eight positions at the end of the sixth round of HSBC SVNS 2025 in Singapore in order to qualify for the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles on May 3 and 4.
The results from Hong Kong mean that all eight of the men’s teams and six of the women’s teams have already secured their places in the World Championship.
The men’s teams are Argentina, Fiji, Spain, South Africa, France, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain.
The six confirmed women’s teams are New Zealand, Australia, France, USA, Canada and Japan.
Brazil currently occupy ninth position and will be looking to overtake either Great Britain or Fiji, who sit five and six points above them, respectively.
The excitement surrounding this year’s event is further heightened by the presence of Olympic medallists and rising stars from around the globe.
This blend of experience and youth adds to the unpredictability of the tournament, ensuring an action-packed weekend of rugby sevens.
The two-day event kicks off at 10.30 local time (GMT+8) on Saturday with pool matches.
The women’s and men’s Finals will bring down the curtain on Sunday at 19:05 and 19.41, respectively.
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Schedule
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus eight hours)
Men
Saturday, April 5
Ireland v Kenya (12.42)
Spain v Uruguay (13.04)
Great Britain v South Africa (13.26)
New Zealand v USA (13.48)
France v Kenya (16.00)
Australia v Uruguay (16.22)
Argentina v South Africa (16.44)
Fiji v USA (17.06)
France v Ireland (18.39)
Australia v Spain (19.38)
Argentina v Great Britain (20.00)
Fiji v New Zealand (20.22)
Women
Fiji v Ireland (10.30)
Brazil v China (10.52)
USA v Great Britain (11.14)
Japan v Spain (11.36)
France v Ireland (14.10)
New Zealand v China (14.32)
Canada v Great Britain (14.54)
Australia v Spain (15.16)
France v Fiji (17.33)
New Zealand v Brazil (17.55)
Canada v USA (18.17)
Australia v Japan (19.16)
Sources: HSBC SVNS & SA Rugby
