World Rugby Sevens Series

Publication date: 11 Jan 2023

About the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is an annual International Rugby Sevens Series tournament for men’s national teams, run by the International Rugby Board. HSBC has been the main sponsor of the tournament since 2014. An important difference between Rugby 15 and Rugby 7 is that the latter features 7-player teams and halves of 7 minutes each. There are currently 16 teams taking part in the tournament.

Official website

2024-25 World Rugby Sevens Series season

The 2024/25 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will be a major event in global sport and a continuation of the growing popularity of rugby sevens. This fast, dynamic and spectacular version of classic rugby brings together the best teams on the planet in the world’s largest arenas.

The 2024/25 season will feature seven stages, united under the HSBC SVNS brand. The tournament will start in late November 2024 and will end with a grand final in May 2025 in Los Angeles:

Dubai (UAE) – November 30 – December 1, 2024
Cape Town (South Africa) – December 7–8, 2024
Perth (Australia) – January 24–26, 2025
Vancouver (Canada) – February 21–23, 2025
Hong Kong (China) – March 28–30, 2025
Singapore – April 5–6, 2025
Los Angeles (USA) – May 3–4, 2025 (series final)

Each stage includes both men’s and women’s tournaments, held in parallel.

2024/25 Season Participants

The new season will feature 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams in the main series, having qualified based on the results of previous seasons and qualifying tournaments:

Men’s teams:

Argentina
Australia
Great Britain
Ireland
Spain
Kenya (return after a break)
New Zealand
USA
Uruguay (debut in the main series)
France
Fiji
South Africa

Women’s teams:

Australia
Brazil
Great Britain
Ireland
Spain
Canada
China (new participant)
New Zealand
USA
France
Fiji
Japan

Top favorites

Men:

New Zealand — 13-time winners of the series, always among the top contenders.
Fiji — known for their spectacular style of play, two-time Olympic champions.
Argentina — gaining strength and confidently went to the top last season.
South Africa and France — teams with a strong defense and good tactics.

Women:

New Zealand (Black Ferns) — a dominant force in women’s rugby-7.
Australia — consistently perform at a high level, multiple champions.
France and the USA — dynamic and balanced squads, capable of beating any opponent.
Canada — traditionally a strong team, especially at home stages.

History of the World Rugby Sevens Series

The first international Rugby Sevens tournament was held in Scotland in 1973 and featured 7 teams, with England defeating Ireland 22-18 in the final.

For the first season, the World Rugby Sevens Series took place in 1999/2000. This was an important start to the rise of rugby as a sport.

The New Zealand team has won six consecutive seasons.

In the history of the World Series, Team New Zealand have won 13 times, while teams from South Africa and Fiji have won 4 times each.

Winners of the previous World Rugby Sevens Series seasons

The year	Venue	Winning team
2021/2022	Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore	France National Team
2021	Hong Kong, Dubai, Cape Town, Hamilton, Sydney, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Singapore, Toulouse, London	New Zealand National Team
2021/2022	Dubai, Málaga, Seville, Singapore, Vancouver, Toulouse, London, Los Angeles	Australia national rugby union team