The SEA7s 2024 tournament came to a conclusion at the National Stadium in Singapore on Friday 3rd May with the finals played out at the HSBC Singapore SVNS 2024, which saw the Thailand women beat Singapore 42-0, and the Malaysian men edging out the hosts 14-10.
Feature Photo Credit: Lawrence Photography
The pool matches and other placements had been completed a day earlier at the Jurong West Stadium as 8 men’s and 6 women’s sides played out in hot and humid conditions, which also saw play interrupted by potential lightning on Thursday 2nd May.
Each team which topped their pool earned the right to play in the finals in this tournament which is important to allow regional national 7s sides to get more rugby under their belts – and many sides capped new players this year.
There were many development squads on display, notably from the Phillipines (Rising Stars), Indonesia and Singapore A among others.
Photo Credit: HSBC SVNS Singapore – SEA7s 2024 final Thailand vs Singapore women
In the women’s draw, Thailand overcame both Lao (57-0) and Malaysia (21-5) to top their Pool, while the Singapore women beat the Philippines (27-0) and Indonesia (15-5) to set up a final with Thailand who were the defending champions and did include in this young team a couple of players who have been featuring on the HSBC Challenger Sevens Series this season.
For the men, Singapore beat Laos (52-0), defending champions Chinese Taipei (17-12), and the Philippines (26-7) to head to the final. Malaysia dispatched of Singapore’s 2nd team (31-0), Indonesia (43-7), and Thailand (19-7).
SEA7s 2024 Finals – Singapore National Stadium
In the National Stadium, the Thai women, who were considered the favourites, took the lead early against the Singapore women who were fielding a number of debutants and couldn’t keep up with the slick hands and pace of the Thais.
The defending champions, who themselves had mostly a development team while a core of the national side prepared for the final round of the Challenger Series in mid-May in Poland, were too strong and ran in tries using the width of the field to run up a 42-0 final score.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Photography Thailand women – SEA7s 2024 champions
Thai player Jeeraporn Peerabunanon told us with a big smile after earning her gold medal “We were excited for the final as we thought we played well in the pool matches but still made too many mistakes. We have a young squad and new players here in Singapore but today our systems were good and we made very few mistakes so I am very happy to defend the title from last year.”
Singapore women’s captain who was understandably disappointed was also realistic and positive about the season ahead.
Victoria Chew told us, “We didn’t get what we wanted but it was a good experience as half of our team are rookies and it was their first SEA7s.”
“It’s not every day you get to place in such a stadium with friends and family supporting us, and looking forward to the Asian Rugby Sevens Series, this is a building block for us to prepare for the 3 legs later this year,’ added Chew.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Photography – Singapore women and men – SEA7s 2024
The Malaysia men compounded the disappointment for the home fans in Singapore, narrowly edging out the Singapore men 14-10 – the two sides played a couple of weeks ago which ended in a draw showing how close the teams are.
Malaysia vice-captain Muhammad Zulhisham Rasli was delighted with the win but full of praise for their rivals, telling us, “It was a good challenge this SEA7s as we had three tough opponents in the pool play and all of them gave us good matches.
We came back strong today but Singapore was really hard to break down. I am so grateful for the win and the levels between the teams are so close, so maybe we were just fortunate to have good luck on our side today.”
Singapore men’s captain Charlie Teng added, “It was a hard-fought final and it’s never easy against our neighbour as they always bring their ‘A” game when they play Singapore. The boys gave it all but in Sevens it’s down to fine margins and the one per cent that makes the difference. We will keep improving and work harder and will be better next time.”
SEA7s 2024 final Malaysia vs Singapore men
Teng added, “We loved the energy and the vibe in the National Stadium, so thank you to everyone who came to support us and we will try and get the next one.”
SEA 7s 2024 Final Placement
For the placement results, it meant the following (all of the results can be seen here).
SEA7s Women
- Thailand
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Phillipines
- Laos
SEA7s Men
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Chinese Taipei
- Philippines
- Singapore A
- Indonesia
- Laos
Asian Sevens Rugby News 2024
- SEA 7s 2024 Teams & Format.
- Sir Gordon Tjietiens On Taking Chinese Women’s Sevens Rugby To The Next Level.
- Christy Cheng – The Development Of Rugby Has Come So Far In Hong Kong.
- Monaco To Host World Rugby Sevens Repechage – Paris 2024 Olympics.
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