First Five Events Confirmed For This Season’s HSBC SVNS Series

Following Rugby Sevens’ celebrated  ‘coming of age’ on the Olympic stage in Paris, World Rugby has today confirmed the first five destinations and dates of the highly-anticipated HSBC SVNS Series for 2024/25, with further events to be added in the coming weeks.

The announcement means fans around the world can already mark their calendars and prepare to see the superstars from the best 12 Men’s and Women’s teams in the world showcasing their incredible skill, speed, and strength in some of the most iconic destinations around the globe.

This season’s HSBC SVNS Series will kick off in style at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai, which hosts the first round on November 30-December 1.

As in previous editions, the 24 teams then move on to the DHL Stadium in Cape Town the following weekend for the second round on December 7-8.

Following Perth’s highly successful debut as SVNS hosts in 2024, which saw a sell-out crowd for finals day, the event with the festival vibe will return to Australia’s west coast in the New Year for the third round, on January 24-26, at HBF Park.

Vancouver then welcomes the SVNS Series for the fourth round on February 21-23, as the famously atmospheric BC Place will once again be the setting. Meanwhile, the fan-favourite Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens is confirmed to take place on March 28-30.

Details on the remaining HSBC SVNS events for the 2024/25 campaign, including the Grand Final, will be confirmed in due course.

The first five destinations announced today all featured in last season’s schedule, providing players, teams, and fans with consistency and building on the exciting success of the inaugural year of the reimagined SVNS – the global celebration of Rugby Sevens combined with music, food, and entertainment in a unique festival atmosphere.

In what promises to be another record breaking year for Women’s rugby, the HSBC SVNS Series will again fully embrace gender parity with all rounds featuring combined Men’s and Women’s events.

This ensures that the game’s leading Women’s players have equal opportunities to showcase their talents on the biggest stages around the world. Men’s and Women’s teams will also receive equal participation fees.

There will be three new teams competing in 2024/25 as the Kenya and Uruguay Men’s sides, and China Women, secured promotion from the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series with their victories at the 2024 promotion and relegation play-offs in Madrid.

The participating Women’s teams for the 2024/25 HSBC SVNS Series are New Zealand, Australia, France, the USA, Canada, Fiji, Ireland, who finished seventh in last season’s League standings (and sixth at the Madrid Grand Final), Great Britain, Japan, Brazil, Spain, and China.

The roster of Men’s teams includes Argentina, Ireland, who made history as League runners-up last season, and followed up with a fifth place finish in the Grand Final, New Zealand, Australia, France, Fiji, South Africa, Great Britain, the USA, Spain, Uruguay, and Kenya.

World Rugby Sevens General Manager Sam Pinder commented: “Following the spectacular, record-breaking success of Rugby Sevens at the Paris Olympics, we are delighted to announce five rounds of the highly-anticipated HSBC SVNS Series for 2024/25.

“We are announcing the first destinations now to allow fans to mark their calendars and get prepared to see the stars of the Olympics shine again in some of the world’s most iconic stadiums and destinations, with the dates for the remaining exciting destinations to be confirmed soon.

“The inaugural year of HSBC SVNS, with the introduction of a Grand Final, was undoubtedly the most high quality and hotly-contested Series in history with more excitement, jeopardy, and entertainment than ever before and fans can expect more thrills this season.

“Our deep thanks and gratitude to our title partner HSBC for their continued unwavering support, and to our host partners as we prepare for Sevens to kick on from the incredible success of the Paris Olympics and attract and inspire more new fans and participants around the globe.”

Rugby Sevens was a record breaking triumph at Paris 2024 with more than 530,000 fans filling the Stade de France and tens of millions watching around the globe.

Both Ireland Sevens team competed at the same Olympic Games for the first time, with the Men’s side, who had experience of playing in Tokyo three years ago, finishing sixth overall in Paris, and the Women claiming eighth place.

There was a TV audience of 11.6 million in France alone for the Men’s final, which the host nation beat Fiji to win, while South Africa secured bronze.

New Zealand retained the Women’s Olympic title with victory over Canada, while the USA claimed an impressive bronze in a competition that recorded the highest attendance ever for a Women’s rugby event with 66,000 fans enjoying the spectacular show across each session.

Fans around the globe can watch the HSBC SVNS Series action live on www.rugbypass.tv or via their domestic broadcaster.

Tickets for the Perth leg of the upcoming HSBC SVNS Series are now on pre-sale and will go on general sale on Tuesday, August 27. For further information, please visit www.svns.com.