South Africa Women and Canada Men Win HSBC SVNS 3 Titles – Heartbreak for Hong Kong China

The weekend saw the conclusion of the HSBC SVNS 3 Divisional titles, and the four teams which will qualify for Division 2 were locked in as the South African and Argentine women, and the Canadian and Belgian men all progressed, with the South Africans and Canadians winning the title.

It was another heartbreak tournament for Hong Kong China men, who missed out by the smallest of margins, losing to Canada in golden point extra time in the semifinal and placed 4th overall, while the Thailand Women finished 6th.

Since these new SVNS formats were announced, it’s been tough to find anyone who is a fan of the format and the structure, aside from the commentary team this weekend in Dubai, it seems, who, ad nauseam, promoted their perceived benefits. Regardless, all of the competing teams knew the parameters.

The South African women were worthy winners and the best team all weekend. The Thais and Argentina (in the final) were the only sides to at one stage have led against the eventual winners. With the sublime talent of South African Player of the Year Nominee Nadine Roos (54 points via 4 tries, 17 conversions) and the pace of their top try scorer Maria Tshiremba (7 tries), the whole squad performed exceptionally well under Head Coach Cecil Afrika, and they were the only side in Dubai to not drop a single game.

Photo Credit – World Rugby

Afrika claimed his second consecutive tournament title since taking over the coaching role in October, adding the Dubai title to the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Cup they won in November 2025 in Nairobi.

“Overall, I think we got the balance right at this tournament. When we needed to, we defended our line very well, and when the opportunity came, we could switch to attack and score some really nice tries.

One of the keys to a successful defensive effort is for players to work hard for each other, getting back in line, getting back off the floor to get in position and to trust the system and not try things on your own,” said Afrika.

Czechia beat Poland to claim third, Colombia finished fifth at the expense of Thailand, who were poor in the first and final games of the weekend, and Samoa beat Mexico to claim seventh in the inaugural HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai.

Canada was lucky a few times, but you can’t disregard their heart and ability to fight back. After losing the pool game to Belgium and coming from behind to beat Madagascar to narrowly make the semifinals, they had to dig deep and barring two exceptional pieces of play from Thomas Isherwood in the semifinal to beat Hong Kong China, they went on to defeat the Belgians in the Final too.

Photo Credit – World Rugby

Samoa defeated Hong Kong China in the men’s third-place play-off on games that were completely pointless in this format, with the Pacific Islanders keeping their undefeated record against HKCR intact.

Madagascar ended fifth, beating Italy 31-22, and Tonga were beaten by Colombia in the seventh-place play-off.

You can see all of the weekend’s results here.

Thailand Women Results – 6th Overall

Thailand, unfortunately, had one of the worst games we have seen them play in some years in the pool opener and evential third-places team, Czechia. The loss was marked by poor soft skills, dropping off tackles and uncharacteristic mistakes, which made their mission a tough one.

The wins against Mexico and Samoa were solid, but they were outplayed by South Africa, even though Thailand had scored first, and they fell short in the final, albeit meaningless, final game.

Dion Akwaja was their top try scorer over the weekend.

• Thailand 5-32 Czechia
• Thai 45-0 Mexico
• Thailand 5-33 South Africa
• 5th Place Semifinal Thailand 31-5 Samoa
• 5th Place Final Thailand 0-17 Colombia

Photo Credit – World Rugby

Hong Kong China Men Results – 4th Overall

It’s tough to find words to describe how close Hong Kong China men came to qualifying for HSBC SVNS Division 2. They were well beaten by Samoa in pool play, but put in two good shifts against Tonga and Colombia. The semifinal against Canada had some tiny moments that made the difference.

The near-score from Allesandro Nardoni in the final play of regular time, which would have secured a famous win, and the winning try from Thomas Isherwood two minutes into golden point extra time might haunt them, but it’s tough to fault the side and preparation. Ultimately, their three losses were against seasoned SVNS regulars, which shows they might still need to find an extra gear.

Max Denamark was their top try scorer with 5.

• HKCR 33-14 Tonga
• HKCR 17-31 Samoa
• HKCR 38-10 Colombia
• Semi-Final HKCR 19-24 Canada
• 3rd Place Playoff HKCR 5-26 Samoa

Read more from the HKCR perspective in our colab match reports from HSBC SVNS Division 3.

Photo Credit – World Rugby

The qualified teams join HSBC SVNS 2 in Nairobi (Feb. 14-15), Montevideo (Mar. 21-22), and São Paulo (Mar. 28-29).

The top 4 teams at the end of the HSBC SVNS 2 series will join the 8 core teams on the HSBC SVNS Series for the three-destination SVNS World Championship. The Championship rounds take place in Hong Kong (Apr. 17-19), Valladolid, Spain (May 29-31) and Bordeaux, France (Jun. 5-7).

For the Asian teams, Asia Rugby has yet to confirm the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series, but some unions have attached dates of the first leg in China in early September, and the second leg in Colombo, Sri Lanka October 17-18. The Asian Games 7s take place in Japan in September/October 2026.

Sevens Rugby News 2026

• HSBC SVNS 3 Dubai 2026 Pools.
• HSBC SVNS Singapore 2026 Pools Confirmed.
• The Vengaboys Confirmed To Perform at 50th Anniversary Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2026.
• Asian International Rugby Tournaments 2026.