World Rugby Sevens Series

Publication date: 09 Jul 2025

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

2025-26 World Rugby Sevens Series season

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series — SVNS Series — will once again bring together the strongest men’s and women’s teams in a global tournament in the 2025/26 season. Although the full schedule has not yet been published, it is already known that the format will remain the same: 7 stages in different countries around the world, and the series will end with the Grand Final with the participation of the eight best teams of the season.

The tournament will start in late 2025 and will end in the spring of 2026. The traditional host cities are expected: Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles. Final stage is expected to be hosted by Madrid again.

Season participants

The series includes 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams, which play matches at each stage, scoring points in the overall standings. Based on the results of all rounds:

• The top 8 teams advance to the Grand Final, where the season champion is determined;
• The teams that finish 9th to 12th play play-offs against the best teams from the Challenger Series, fighting for the right to remain in the SVNS.

The 2025/26 season will thus be a continuation of the new system with promotion and relegation, which gives new teams a chance to break into the elite of world rugby-7s. The exact dates and host cities will be announced closer to the start of the tournament.

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  

2026-27 World Rugby Sevens Series season

Information on dates and venues for the next season of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is not yet known.

Keep an eye on the dates of rugby tournaments and other events in our Sporting Events Calendar.