HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 Pools and Preview

The third round of HSBC SVNS 2025 takes place in Perth from 24-26 January at HBF Park and the pools for the women and men have now been confirmed.

Updated January 22 2025 – Feature Photo – Zach Franzen/ Alex Ho / World Rugby

HSBC SVNS Perth Ambassadors Sera Naiqama, Matt Hodgson and Australia Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard drew the pools at HBF Park which will once again offer a range of global cuisine, interactive activities, roaming performers and musical performances from Voyager featuring Perth Symphony Orchestra’s INNEKA, Southern River Band, and Adrian Dzvuke.

The women’s final will be the last showpiece match of the tournament, taking centre stage on Sunday evening (26 January) in Perth – which will be the first time the women’s final is the last match played.  NZ legend and Sevens captain Sarah Hirini said of that, “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.”

World Rugby Sevens General Manager Sam Pinder commented: “Perth is set to deliver another festival of world-class sevens, music and entertainment in a festival atmosphere at HBF Park. The opening two rounds of HSBC SVNS 2025 showed it is all to play for on the pitch with four different winners so far and exciting new talent emerging alongside many of the stars of the Olympic Games. We are all set for what promises to be another exhilarating event in the Perth sunshine.”

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.

The inaugural WA 7’s Series (Western Australia) will be taking place from 18-20 January 2025 at Wanneroo Districts Rugby Union Club before the Perth SVNS.

The Blitzboks (South African men) and the Black Ferns Sevens from New Zealand were victors in the last round held at the Cape Town SVNS 2024, while from an Asian perspective, the Japan Sakura 7s were 6th and the Chinese women finished 9th.

The standings for the women and men can be seen here.

Photo Credit – World Rugby – HSBC SVNS Perth

HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 Pools – Women

Olympic champions New Zealand lead the women’s standings but Australia’s women and World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi – who scored a record-breaking 15 tries in a single tournament in Dubai – will be looking to close the gap. The USA and France can not be excluded as both have had good opening rounds.

Australia women’s head coach Tim Walsh said: “We had a fantastic Dubai tournament, statistically one of our best ever and looked unstoppable, but were a bit complacent in Cape Town where we slipped and have learnt lessons. It was a fantastic tournament in Perth last year so we’re really looking forward to getting on the plane, putting on a show and doing our best to get the win. We’ve been at the top of our game for over a decade with a lot of big occasion experience and we’re really looking to express ourselves in Perth.”

Australia women’s captain Isabella Nasser commented: “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.”

Women’s Olympic champions New Zealand have drawn the Japanese again, so this will be the third consecutive leg that the two teams will face each other. The Japanese will fancy their chances against Brazil in Pool A and they have pushed the Irish side will in the past  – the Ireland team were impacted by sickness in Cape Town but were winners in Perth in 2024 (their only SVNS title). Japan are currently 6th overall and Ria Anoku will make her debut in Perth.

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.

Hosts and HSBC SVNS 2024 Champions Australia will once again play the Chinese in Pool C, the meeting in Dubai between the two was very one-sided and the hosts will look to make amends for a disappointing 4th place finish in Cape Town. China has thus far not sent (in our opinion) their best squads to the opening two rounds, choosing to hand debuts to younger players but we will see if they change strategy in Perth. China is currently 9th in the standings.

France will hand a debut to 17-year-old Aelig Tregouet.

China finally selects Liu Xiaoqian who was the top scorer in the 2024 Challenger Series with 28 tries for her first SVNS appearance this season. Chen Can will make her debut in a side captained by the stalwart Yan Meiling.

Pool A

• New Zealand
• Japan
• Ireland
• Brazil

Pool B

• Canada
• USA
• GB
• Fiji

Pool C

• Australia
• France
• China
• Spain

Japan Sakura 7s Squad – Perth SVNS 2025

Image Credit – JRFU

You can see more from the JRFU on their selection here.

• Wakana AKITA
• Ria ANOKU
• Mei OHTANI
• Seika OHASHI
• Suzuha OKAMOTO
• Marin KAJIKI
• Chiaki SAEGUSA
• Emii TANAKA
• Minako TANIYAMA
• Yukino TSUJISAKI
• Honoka TSUTSUMI
• Hana NAGATA
• Mayu YOSHINO

HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 Pools – Men

Fiji lead the men’s standings and won the opening round in Dubai, while South Africa was victorious on home soil in Cape Town, it is the Spanish who have surprised everyone and are second in the standings with the Olympic gold medalists France in 3rd place overall (tied with SA).

Kenya, Uruguay, USA, and Ireland are in the bottom four in the Series which has seen more than 100 players make their debits across the opening two rounds so far.

Australia men’s player Henry Paterson said: “It’s a super tight draw. There’s no easy game for anyone on the sevens circuit and if you want to win the competition you have to beat everyone.” Australia is currently in 8th place and has a new coach at the helm this season. For Perth, the men have selected Hadley Tonga who is set to make his debut.

Blitzbok head coach Philip Snyman said, “Seeing the pools was a final confirmation that the challenge will be real, but also the knowledge that we are already a week in towards the next goal, to do well in Perth. It was nice to have the likes of Ryan Oosthuizen, Selvyn Davids and Ronald Brown back at training though after they all missed Cape Town due to injury as they are all experienced players and will widen my options for selecting a side to Perth. The fact that we know what is waiting on that side will also help.”

South African Sevens player David Brits – playing in his sixth SVNS event in Perth – added, “Perth is a great venue, it is a fast and hard field, it is quite hot out here and the support for us is good. We are used to training in the heat back home, so that is no problem, while we prefer a fast game as well, so it all adds up for us.”

The New Zealand men have selected Maloni Kunawave and Frank Vaenuku to be on the squad for their first SVNS tournament.

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.”

The French men have three debutantes in Perth – Josselin Bouhier, Enzo Benmegal, and Mateo Garcia.

Pool A

• South Africa
• Argentina
• Australia
• USA

Pool B

• France
• Spain
• GB
• Ireland

Pool C

• Fiji
• New Zealand
• Kenya
• Uruguay

The next SVNS leg after Perth takes place in Vancouver from 21-23 February 2025 before the rounds move to Asia in Hong Kong from 28-30 March 2025, and Singapore from 5-6 April 2025.

How To Watch The HSBC SVNS 2024-2025

RugbyPassTV will again be streaming the events in certain regions but more information will be released for the HSBC SVNS 2025 season, with World Rugby saying, “Fans around the globe can watch the HSBC SVNS action live on www.rugbypass.tv or via their domestic broadcaster.”

HSBC SVNS 2024-2025 News

• Blitzboks and NZ Women Triumphant At Cape Town SVNS 2024.
• Fans Guide To HSBC SVNS Series 2024-2025.
• Top 5 Asian Rugby Tournaments & Events To Be Excited About in 2025.
• 2025 Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens – What You Need To Know.