Perth set for sizzling HSBC SVNS
- Perth set to host the third round of HSBC SVNS 2025 on 24-26 January as the world’s best 12 men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams meet at HBF Park
- With four different title winners across the opening two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town, New Zealand women and Fiji men lead the current standings
- 2024 SVNS champions Australia are in women’s pool C with France, China and Spain while the hosts face Argentina, South Africa and the USA in men’s pool A
- The three-day event kicks off at 11:00 local time (GMT+8) on Friday with pool matches, continuing from 12:00 on Saturday before finals day from 13:30 on Sunday with the women’s final set to bring down the curtain at 20:11
- Following last year’s finals day sell-out, fans are urged to secure their tickets early to avoid disappointment. Remaining tickets are available from www.svns.com
Rugby sevens fever is set to grip Perth once again as the city gears up to host the third round of the HSBC SVNS for a second time at HBF Park, following a sold-out finals day on debut in 2024.
Captains of the world’s top 12 men’s and women’s teams gathered at South Perth Foreshore on Wednesday ahead of the three-day event on 24-26 January.
With a plethora of star-studded Olympians on show alongside new breakthrough talent, the action is set to be more competitive than ever with four different title winners across the opening two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town.
One player to watch will be Australia’s recently crowned HSBC World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi who scored a record-breaking 15 tries in a single tournament in Dubai last month.
Women’s Olympic champions New Zealand lead the current standings following victory in Cape Town and will face Japan, Ireland and Brazil in pool A.
Olympic silver and bronze medallists Canada and the USA respectively are in pool B together with Great Britain and Fiji.
Hosts and HSBC SVNS 2024 Champions Australia are in pool C with France, China and Spain and they will be looking to back up their opening round title winning performance in Dubai on home soil this weekend.
Fiji lead the men’s standings following gold in Dubai and bronze in Cape Town, and they will go into battle in pool C along with rivals New Zealand and newly promoted Kenya and Uruguay.
Hosts Australia were drawn in men’s pool A together with reigning SVNS league winners Argentina, Cape Town champions South Africa and the USA.
Olympic champions France are in pool B alongside Spain, Great Britain and Ireland in an all European affair.
Men’s Olympic champions France are looking to retain their SVNS Champions crown after they defeated SVNS league winners Argentina to claim the inaugural men’s title in 2024. Meanwhile New Zealand’s women secured their second successive Olympic title in Paris and will be aiming to reclaim the SVNS Champions title they lost to Australia in 2024.
The HSBC SVNS action kicks off at 11:00 local time (GMT+8) on Friday with pool matches. The pool phase continues from 12:00 on Saturday before the quarter-finals begin at 17:27. Sunday’s finals day begins at 13:30 with the men’s and women’s finals at 19:35 and 20:11 respectively.
In a landmark first, the women’s final will be the last showpiece match of the tournament, taking centre stage on Sunday evening and bringing down the curtain on HSBC SVNS Perth.
Australia women’s captain Isabella Nasser said: “We’ve loved our time in Perth again so far and to be back playing in front of the Aussie fans at HBF Park gives the girls a lot of motivation to try and win the title this year. We fell short in the final last year and that has only driven us as a team to get better.”
Australia men’s captain Henry Hutchison said: “It’s great to be back in Perth and we’re looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd that really turned up and got behind us last year. We’ve got some fresh faces in the group but hopefully we can go one better this year and put on a show.”
New Zealand women’s captain Sarah Hirini said: “I’m really proud of the way we have started off the season. Perth is our closest event to home so I know we will have a heap of Kiwi’s down here supporting us. It’s my first time in Perth so I’m exciting to see what the stadium is like and hopefully get another win on the Series.
“I think the women’s final being played after the men’s is a pretty cool step forward, showing a lot of young girls that things can change as we keep adapting to how society is.”
Argentina men’s captain Santiago Mare said: “We are very happy to be back in Perth. We have very good memories here from last year so we hope to have a good tournament and achieve the same as last season. We are always looking to keep improving, with new players and new staff. We love the beach and the sun so we are very happy to be playing again here in Perth.”
Ireland women’s captain Megan Burns said: “Winning last year’s tournament here in Perth was definitely a great moment for us and one that will stay in our memories forever. We are really excited to be back here, we all love it here and can’t wait to get back out there on the pitch. The support from the many Irish fans here gives us massive energy. We’re going out there to enjoy it and hopefully get to the final again.”
This year’s SVNS festival promises another action-packed weekend on and off the pitch. Alongside the epic rugby sevens action, featuring the world’s best 12 men’s and women’s teams packed with Olympic stars, fans can enjoy global food offerings, interactive activities, roaming performers and a blockbuster line-up of entertainment.
Internationally acclaimed artists Voyager featuring Perth Symphony Orchestra’s INNEKA, Southern River Band, and Adrian Dzvuke are some of the big names set to light up the stage with unforgettable performances.
Following last year’s finals day sell-out, fans are urged to secure their tickets to avoid disappointment. Remaining tickets are available from www.svns.com
Fans can watch the HSBC SVNS action wherever you are in the world, either via broadcaster partners or on www.RugbyPassTV. Following the blockbuster Olympic sevens competitions, an impressive roster of broadcast partners will bring the SVNS to a huge potential global audience.
VIEW HSBC SVNS 2025 CALENDAR >>
Following a successful inaugural year for World Rugby’s revamped and rebranded global celebration of rugby sevens, HSBC SVNS 2025 features seven events across seven months in seven iconic global destinations.
Six regular season events are being played in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore to decide the HSBC SVNS League Winners, before the HSBC SVNS World Championship at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Olympic Games rugby sevens competitions.
The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points after six events in Singapore will compete in the ‘winner takes all’ World Championship, where the women’s and men’s SVNS Champions will be crowned.
Los Angeles will also play host to the high stakes promotion and relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, in a battle to secure their places in the next HSBC SVNS.
In a huge year for women’s rugby, World Rugby’s commitment to grow the women’s game is unwavering and all HSBC SVNS events will see men’s and women’s teams receiving equal participation fees and sharing the platform equally on the biggest stages around the world. For the first time in history, there is an all-female panel of match officials for the women’s SVNS 2025.
Notes to editors
The following additional content is available from each round of the series in the respective event HSBC SVNS event page:
- Rights-free images (jpg)
- Video news releases (VNR) containing b-roll video footage (.mov)
- Media releases
- Key statistics (pdf)
For any further information on HSBC SVNS, please contact philip.wilkinson@worldrugby.org.