The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the competition was formed to promote an elite-level of international rugby sevens and develop the game into a viable commercial product. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2014.
The season's circuit consists of eight tournaments held in five continents, generally beginning in November or December and ending in May or June. All tournaments feature the same 12 teams.
Teams compete for the World Rugby Series title by accumulating points based on their finishing position in each tournament. The bottom four teams play a repechange tournament against the top four teams of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.
New Zealand had originally dominated the Series, winning each of the first six seasons from 1999–2000 to 2004–05, but since then, Fiji, South Africa, Samoa, Australia and Argentina have each won season titles. England and the United States have placed in the top three for several seasons but have not won the series title.
The International Olympic Committee's decision in 2009 to add rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics beginning in 2016 has added a boost to rugby sevens and to the World Sevens Series; this boost has led to increased exposure and revenues, leading several of the core teams to field fully professional squads.
History International sevens The first international rugby sevens tournament was held in 1973 in Scotland, which was celebrating a century of the Scottish Rugby Union. Seven international teams took part, with England defeating Ireland 22–18 in the final to take the trophy. The Hong Kong Sevens annual tournament began in 1976."How it all began: A jewel discovered", South China Morning Post, 6 March 2015. Over the next two decades the number of international sevens competitions increased. The most notable was the Rugby World Cup Sevens with Scotland hosting the inaugural event in 1993,"The first Melrose Sevens match 1883", BBC along with rugby joining the Commonwealth Games program in 1998.
World Series early years
The first season of the World Sevens Series was the 1999–2000 season. At the Series launch, the chairman of the International Rugby Board, Vernon Pugh, described the IRB's vision of the role of this new competition: "this competition has set in place another important element in the IRB's drive to establish rugby as a truly global sport, one with widespread visibility and steadily improving standards of athletic excellence.""New Zealand take maiden Series crown", World Rugby, 31 August 2000. New Zealand and Fiji dominated the first series, meeting in the final in eight of the ten season tournaments, and New Zealand narrowly won, overtaking Fiji by winning the last tournament of the series.
New Zealand won the first six seasons in a row from 1999–2000 to 2004–05,"Sevens: NZ lose semi, but still claim world title", New Zealand Herald, 6 June 2005. led by players such as Karl Te Nana and Amasio Valence. The number of stops in the series varied over the seasons, but experienced a contraction from 11 tournaments in 2001–02 to 7 tournaments in 2002–03 due to the global recession. In the 2005–06 season Fiji clinched the season trophy on the last tournament of the season finishing ahead of England. New Zealand regained the trophy in 2006–07 season in the last tournament of the season.
South Africa was the next team to win the series after taking home the 2008–09 title."The secret to South Africa Sevens' success", Telegraph, Kate Rowan, 9 December 2017. In the 2009–10 season, Samoa who finished seventh the previous year shocked the world – led by 2010 top try-scorer and World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Mikaele Pesamino – by winning four of the last five tournaments to overtake New Zealand and win the series."Caucau, Pesamino Team Up", Fiji Sun, 20 October 2013.
Olympic era and professionalism The number of core teams expanded from 12 to 15 for the 2011–12 series. Qualification for these places was played out at the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens. Canada (returning to core status for the first time since 2008), Spain and Portugal joined the 12 core teams for the next season. The Japan event also made a return for the first time since 2001 (lasting until 2015). New Zealand continued their dominance by finishing on top.
Argentina was originally planned to begin hosting a tenth event with Mar Del Plata the venue in the 2012–13 season, giving the tour an event on each continent, but when Argentina joined the Rugby Championship those plans were shelved. With the same schedule, New Zealand again were the winners over South Africa. They took it again in 2013–14 with Spain the first team to be relegated after finishing last during that season with Japan replacing them.
Heading into the 2014–15 season, the top four teams qualifying to the 2016 Summer Olympics, with Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand and Great Britain all qualifying through. The 2014–15 season and 2015–16 season were won by Fiji – the first time a team other than New Zealand won back-to-back season titles – led by 2015 and 2016 season Dream Team nominee Osea Kolinisau The two seasons also yielded teams winning their first tournaments – the United States won the 2015 London Sevens to finish the season in sixth overall; Kenya won the 2016 Singapore Sevens, and Scotland won the 2016 London Sevens. Prior to the 2015–16 season World Rugby did a comprehensive review of all nine tournament hosts and adjusted the schedule, dropping two sites (Japan and Scotland), and adding three sites (France, Singapore and Canada) to the calendar.
In the 2016–17 series, a dominant and consistent display by South Africa saw them reach the finals of the 2016–17 series rounds on eight occasions, winning five of these. As a result, South Africa were series champions with victory in the penultimate round in Paris. The season was a qualifier for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens with the top four teams that had not already qualified, coming from this season. The teams that made it through to the World Cup via this method were Canada, Argentina, Scotland and Samoa.
Tournament hosts
The World Series will consist of nine scheduled tournament stops from the 2025–26 season, which generally fall in the same order and timeframes. From 2020 to 2022, however, several of these events had to be cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Event VenueCityJoined series First held at current venue ScheduledRef DubaiThe Sevens StadiumDubai1999–2000 2008–09 29–30 November 2025 South AfricaDHL StadiumCape Town1999–2000 2015–166–7 December 2025 SingaporeNational StadiumSingapore2015–16 2015–16 31 January–1 February 2026"‘Sauna’ sevens as Singapore returns as host of latest leg in World Series", South China Morning Post, 15 April 2016. AustraliaHBF ParkPerth1999–2000 2023–24 7–8 February 2026 CanadaBC PlaceVancouver2015–162015–16 7–8 March 2026 "Vancouver welcomes the world for the inaugural Canada Sevens", CTV Vancouver News, 8 March 2016. USASports Illustrated StadiumNew York2003–042025–2614–15 March 2026"Down memory lane – 2004: First USA Sevens tournament" , Rugby Today, 3 January 2018. Hong KongKai Tak StadiumHong Kong1999–20002024–2517–19 April 2026 SpainJosé Zorrilla StadiumValladolid2021–222025–2629–31 May 2026 FranceStade AtlantiqueBordeaux1999–20002025–265–7 June 2026
Notes
Teams, promotion and relegation
Core teams A group of core teams, currently 8 in number, is announced for each season based on performances in the previous season. Each core team has a guaranteed place in all of that season's events. The core teams have been selected through a designated promotion/relegation process since the 2012–13 season. A new system from the 2023–24 season, saw 12 core teams, with anywhere from 1 to 4 teams being relegated each season. However, as part of the structural reforms from the 2024–25 season, the number of core teams were further reduced to 8.
Team Core since Best Series finish (Last)11999–20001st (2024–25)21999–20001st (2018–19)32017–183rd (2024–25)41999–20001st (2025–26)51999–20004th (2023–24)61999–20001st (2021–22)7 1999–20001st (2022–23)81999–2000 to 2024–25, 2026–272nd (2018–19)
+ Former core teamsTeam Last season as core Best Series finish (Last)2025–262nd (2021)2024–253rd (2021)2024–2512th (2022–23)2024–252nd (2023–24)2023–241st (2009–10)2023–244th (2021)2022–232021–222nd (2016–17)2021–227th (2016–17)2021–226th (2006–07)2017–1814th (2016–17)2015–16 Key: * indicates a tied placing
Notes
Invited teams Non-core teams are also invited to compete in every season of the World Rugby Sevens Series under previous formats. With 15 core teams, there was generally only one invited team at each 16-team tournament. Before 2012–13, when there were only 12 core teams, four places at each tournament were usually available to invited teams.
+ Invited teams with a Top-15 Series finishTeam Last season played Best Series finish (Last)2021 (2021)2010–11 (2005–06)2011–12 (2001–02)2008–092021–22 (2021)2022–23 (2021)2009–10 (2002–03)2021–22 (2021)2019–20 (2000–01)2011–12 (2001–02)2021 (2021)2010–11 (2001–02)2017–182018–19* (1999–00)2009–10 (2004–05)2018–19 (2000–01) Key: * indicates a tied placing
Promotion and relegation
Historical systems; 2013–14 to 2018–19 One team relegated and one promoted each year. Bottom core team relegated. Winner of the 12-team qualifying tournament at the Hong Kong Sevens promoted.
2018–19 to 2022–23:World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series:
In 2019, World Rugby announced a second-tier competition (the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series) so strong regional teams could compete in a similar format and earn promotion to the main Sevens Series (later rebranded HSBC SVNS Series) as core teams.
One team relegated and one promoted each year. Bottom core team relegated to the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series. Eight teams competed for promotion at the Hong Kong Sevens after qualifying via the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.
2023–24 to 2024–25: Teams ranked 9–12 in the SVNS Series joined the top 4 from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in a promotion/relegation play-off at the Grand Final. Top 4 from that event stayed in/promoted to the SVNS (12-team core). Bottom 4 relegated to the Challenger Series.
Current system (from 2025–26 season onward): The World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series was replaced by a three-division structure: HSBC SVNS Series (Division 1): 8 core men's + 8 core women's teams compete in six regular-season events. HSBC SVNS 2 (Division 2): 6 teams per gender compete across three events. The top 4 qualify for the Grand Final. HSBC SVNS 3 (Division 3): 8 teams per gender (qualified via regional competitions) play a single event. The top 2 promote to SVNS 2. Season finale – SVNS Grand Final Three events (Hong Kong, Valladolid, Bordeaux) featuring 12 teams per gender: the 8 Division 1 teams + the top 4 from Division 2. Cumulative standings across these three events decide: The top 8 secure/retain SVNS Series (core) status for the next season. The bottom 4 are relegated/returned to SVNS 2.
SeasonCore teamsRelegated(post-season)Promoted(for the next season) 2011–1212No relegation2012–1315colspan=2 align=center 2013–14152014–15152015–16152016–17152017–18152018–19152019–2015No relegation202116colspan=2 align=center 2021–2216align=center 2022–2315align=center 2023–24122024–2512align=center 2025–268 Notes
Other qualifying The World Series results are sometimes used as a qualifier for other tournaments. For example, the top four teams of the 2014–15 series automatically qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Similarly, certain teams from the 2016–17 series qualified for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Historical results
Top 6 placings by season - Series