New Zealand and South Africa top of the HSBC SVNS world in Vancouver

Black Ferns Sevens maintain their long unbeaten record at BC Place, while Blitzboks laid down a marker ahead of the final event of the regular HSBC SVNS Series in New York.

South Africa added the HSBC SVNS Series Vancouver title to their Perth and Cape Town crowns this season and rocketed to the top of the men’s standings, level on points with Fiji. The Blitzboks went unbeaten across the weekend to claim their first win in Canada since the Covid-shortened series in Edmonton in 2021.

Blitzboks captain Impi Visser’s focus was already switching to next weekend in New York when he spoke on the sidelines immediately after the final. “It’s an amazing feeling,” he said of their win. “Sometimes we take it for granted but it’s an amazing feeling and we’re really grateful for it.

“We’ve had a lot of changes – six changes from Perth to now and the thing we said we want to build is consistency. I think we’ve shown that through and through. We just need to keep up this momentum going into New York.”

Fiji made it five podium finishes in five HSBC SVNS Series tournaments, beating Australia to claim third, while Argentina, who had won the past four tournaments in Vancouver – recovered from a disappointing day one performance to claim fifth place. South Africa and Fiji are locked at the top of the men’s standings. They’re level on log points, with Fiji just ahead having scored two match points more across the HSBC SVNS Series to date. The side that finishes top of the standings heading into the three-tournament World Championship series will be exempt from relegation to HSBC SVNS 2.

In the women’s competition, New Zealand extended their lead over Australia in the HSBC SVNS Series standings to eight points after claiming their fourth tournament title in five events this season. Captain Risi Pouri-Lane pointed to the Black Ferns Sevens’ efforts to maintain consistency. “The biggest thing for us is that you can never get complacent and there’s always things you can work on and get better at. They make a big difference in the long run.”

USA beat France in the third-place play-off to end a nine-tournament wait for a podium finish, while Canada got the home crowd on their feet as they claimed fifth, and Japan claimed seventh at the end of an end-to-end play-off against Great Britain.