Following the historic victory for the Irish women and Argentina men at the Perth SVNS this past weekend, the series next moves to Vancouver from 23-25 February followed by the LA SVNS from 1-3 March 2024.
Updated – 23rd February 2024
Feature Photo Credit: World Rugby / Mike Lee
Vancouver is the fourth round of the HSBC SVNS 2024, and while the women’s title race is slightly more open even though Australia remain the favourites, the Argentina men have added to their title aspirations and credentials by winning in Australia following the gold in Cape Town.
Some Key highlights this weekend:
- History will be made at HSBC SVNS Vancouver 2024 when Australia captain Charlotte Caslick becomes the first woman to appear in 50 series tournaments.
- French player Antoine Dupont is also set to debut this weekend which is grabbing a lot of attention but there are quality players throughout the Series already.
Vancouver Sevens 2024 Pools
Men’s Pools – Vancouver SVNS 2024
Argentina will face double Olympic champions Fiji, Spain and hosts Canada in Vancouver. The South Americans have opened up a 14-point lead (58 points at the top) on the Series log after claiming their first back-to-back SVNS victories, with the Blitzboks dropping down to 4th. The Fijians and Australians are tied for second on 44 points.
Argentine captain Santiago Alvarez said after his side won in Perth; “I’m very happy, very proud of this team, these young men. Australia are a very tough team, we know them well, we’ve played them several times this year but we kept the focus on our process, our system. Can we keep it up? I don’t know. Today, we will celebrate. Tomorrow we will start talking about the next tournament.”
Australia are in pool B with France, the USA and Samoa. USA looked better in Perth with a squad that looked more rounded overall while Samoa have not met their great standards in 2023. France is still a threat and is due to have inbound Antoine Dupont at some point in the next few legs.
France men’s captain Paulin Riva said: “We are feeling good. We want to build the season towards the Olympic Games in Paris. Last year we had a great time in Vancouver reaching the final and this year we want to win. It’s a great atmosphere in BC Place.”
On Dupont, the former Men’s XV Player of the year making his debut, Riva said, “Having Antoine playing with us is very good for the French team and for rugby sevens. The Olympic Games is very important for us and for the country. We want to try and catch the gold medal.”
A tough-looking pool C includes Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Great Britain – the pool of death for this round. NZ failed to make the quarterfinals, while the Blitzboks fell to Fiji in the QF in Perth.
Samoa, Canada, Spain, and GB currently occupy 9-12th (the potential relegation battle teams).
- Pool A: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada
- Pool B: Australia, France, USA, Samoa.
- Pool C: Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Great Britain
Women’s Pools – Vancouver SVNS 2024
Perth champions Ireland are in pool A alongside New Zealand, Brazil and South Africa. Ireland coach Alan Temple-Jones said after the win in Perth, “Playing Australia in Australia is an unbelievable opportunity for the girls,” he said. “We’re extremely chuffed … lost for words. We’ve had a good focus these last two weeks. We had a lot to improve on after Dubai and Cape Town … unreal.”
Irish Captain Lucy Mulhall added: “It means a lot and we’ve been on a long journey. This is massive for women’s Irish rugby; we’ll be sure to celebrate.”
Ireland players celebrate the cup final win over Australia on day three of the HSBC SVNS at HBF Park on 28 January 2024 in Perth, Australia. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
Current SVNS 2024 leaders Australia are in pool B with the USA, Fiji and Japan for the leg in Vancouver. The Australians are sitting on 58 Series points, and have a 14-point cushion over NZ in second place, but they will want to address their discipline issues which have seen them concede 3 red cards in Cape Town and Perth.
Australia women’s captain Charlotte Caslick said: “We were obviously disappointed with the defeat to Ireland in the final in Perth but this weekend we are focusing on our discipline and that’s a massive work on for us. We love playing in Vancouver, it’s such a fast field and that really suits our team. We’re trying to chase down that number one seed at the Olympics so every tournament counts towards that and we want to finish as high as we can at each round.”
Japan ended in 11th in Perth and only won a single match over the weekend in Australia. The Sakura 7s face a daunting group and are 10th on the log, 5 points behind Brazil but a good 15 points behind GB who are in 8th place.
Photo Credit: World Rugby / Mike Lee – Team captains in Vancouver
The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points after seven events will compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final, while the four lowest-ranked men’s and women’s teams after the seventh round in Singapore will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a high stakes promotion and relegation tournament in Madrid.
Pool D includes Great Britain, France, Canada and Spain. GB secured their first ever win over Australia in Perth, and France continues to look like a threat in 2024.
Canada women’s captain Olivia Apps added: “We really love playing in front of our home fans, friends and family. BC Place is a unique stadium being closed and the atmosphere from the Canadian fans is awesome. It’s huge to have the women and men playing alongside each other at BC Place for the second year in a row. It’s hugely important for us to be able to play in front of young girls, it’s ultimately why we put on the jersey and we’re really looking forward to it.”
- Pool A: Ireland, New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa
- Pool B: Australia, USA, Fiji and Japan
- Pool C: Great Britain, France, Canada, Spain
The Dupont Impact – Making His SVNS Debut In Vancouver
With the popular French XV player set to make his debut for the Sevens team in Vancouver, there has been extra attention on the SVNS Series coming into the weekend. Antoine Dupont announced at the end of 2023 he would take a sabbatical from the XVs game to focus on SVNS and try and make the French squad for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Although we hope the player is selected on merit (no doubting his qualities), the French Men’s team is a solid one already.
TNT Sports announced in the leadup to Vancouver that it would broadcast the SVNS after signing a two-year deal for the sevens circuit in the UK and Ireland.
A statement from the broadcaster said, “In a further win for sports fans watching on TNT Sports and discovery+ in the UK and Ireland, show content from every round will include post-match and in-game interviews with players and coaches to bring to life the high-octane atmosphere, as well as additional features and storytelling items to further capture the event to its fullest.
Photo Credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby – Antoine Dupont is to make his SVNS debut at Vancouver SVNS 2024
SVNS 2024 Season
The new look HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular-season events – in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore – before the Grand Final in Madrid. You can see the current log standings for the SVNS here.
Rugby Sevens 2024
- Melrose Shield Competition Confirmed For 2024 Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
- World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 – Dates And Venues Announced.
- Monaco To Host World Rugby Sevens Repechage – Paris 2024 Olympics
- Arab Rugby Sevens Championship 2024.
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