Teams Secure Their Places for HSBC SVNS 2025 Play-off in Los Angeles As 2025 World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Champions Were Crowned in Krakow

The South African women and Portugal men were crowned World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Krakow 2025 winners with the Kenya women and Portuguese men overall Series Champions as the top four women and men’s sides qualified for the HSBC SVNS 2025 Play-off in Los Angeles – with the Thailand women putting in some excellent performances but narrowly missing out.

Feature Photo by Travis Prior / World Rugby – Portugal men celebrate their Cup victory at the 2025 HSBC Sevens Challenger – Krakow at Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium on April 12, 2025 in Krakow, Poland. 

Following two days of action in Krakow at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium, the HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025 final standings were determined, and the Colombia women and Samoa men qualified for the HSBC SVNS Play-Off competition in Los Angeles on the final day joining Argentina, Kenya and South Africa women and Canada, Germany and Portugal in the men’s competition.

Thailand came so close to overtaking Colombia on the standings after they had beaten them in pool play, but the South Americans won their 5th place semifinal after the hooter to beat Poland for the first time, and Thailand lost by a single point to Argentina in the Cup semifinal to end their LA ambitions. It was a standout team performance but Jirawan Chutrakun stood out for the sheer number of tries over the two days which nearly dragged them to their goal.

On the men’s side, Germany was leading the log coming into this final round of the tournament, but Portugal was able to overcome them in the semi-finals to set themselves up for a place in the final against Samoa which they won to take the Cup in Poland and be crowned as HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025 Champions.

Portugal’s Captain Fabio Conceicao commented after the win: “It’s been amazing for us as a young group coming to this tournament with big teams. We knew we could beat anyone and that’s what we did, we showed it on the pitch.”

Samoa’s Meni Manase commented after qualifying for LA: “Our first goal was to qualify for LA and that’s ticked off. It’s an awesome achievement. It feels so unreal! First time being overseas and coming from a small country, it really means a lot to our coaches and our families.”

Photo by Travis Prior / World Rugby

For the Women, South Africa won their first tournament in Krakow beating Argentina 21-12 but history was made as Kenya Women were crowned overall champions of the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series after they beat Thailand to bronze in Krakow.

Kenya’s Captain Grace Okulu said “It’s actually been a tough couple of days in Krakow but we bounced back and we were able to win the series. Since last year we didn’t qualify so this year we really had a lot to do. It actually feels amazing, I don’t think anyone in Kenya Rugby has ever done this! But being the first females and for us to be the champions of the series, it actually means so much to us.”

Springbok Women’s Sevens captain Mathrin Simmers said of the Cup win in Krakow, “We finally got it right. Third and then second in Cape Town and now a victory in Krakow – that shows the improvement and determination we had in the squad today. We were not going to be denied again. We have learned a lot from previous tournaments and that played an important role in our success today,” she said.

Nadine Roos was excellent and led her team to the gold medal with a series of amazing performances and her captain said “Nadine is such a special player and a team player at that – she simply does not stop, and she refuses to give up. It is very special to have such a player in your team who will never stop fighting for us. It is a huge plus to have her on our team and not have to play against her.”

All of the results from the Krakow Challenger 2025 event can be seen here.

Asian Team Results – HSBC Sevens Challenger Krakow – Thailand Women and Japanese Men

Thailand Women – 4th in HSBC Sevens Challenger Krakow

They gave everything in Krakow and were so close to pulling off the upsets to climb ahead of Colombia on the log. The Thailand women have improved immeasurably and have improved fitness thanks to the addition of their Japanese S&C Coach at the start of the season.

They now know they have the talent and firepower to beat some of the best in the Challenger Series and we look forward to the Asian 7s Series later this year as they take on Japan, China, Hong Kong China, Kazakhstan and others.

• Thailand 24-12 Colombia – Pool
• Thailand 28-12 Kenya – Pool
• Thailand 12-15 Belgium – Pool
• Thailand 20-21 Argentina – Cup SF
• Thailand 19-27 Kenya – 3rd place

Photo by Travis Prior / World Rugby

Japan Men – 8th in HSBC Sevens Challenger Krakow

The Japanese men were underwhelming over the weekend and lost all of their matches. Their best performance was probably against Chile on Saturday when an incredibly harsh red card made it a tough task and they nearly pulled off an upset.

Coach Phil Greening will appreciate the lessons learned but realises they will need to improve a lot to have another crack if they qualify from the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in 2025 – and he previously told us they already have tournaments in Europe lined up before then.

• Japan 10-28 Portugal – Pool
• Japan 10-40 Canada – Pool
• Japan 12-26 Madagascar – Pool
• Japan 14-17 Chile – 5th Place SF
• Japan 12-45 Tonga – 7th Place Final

Photo by Travis Prior / World Rugby

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