Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Sapporo Grand Final Review – Nagato Blue Angels Make It Four In a Row

Nagato Blue Angels won their fourth straight Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series title by defeating Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix 26-19 in the final of the Grand Final Tournament in Sapporo on August 9, at the Daiwa House Premist Dome.

Feature Photo Credit – JRFU

Nagato Blue Angels Champions in Sapporo

The star-studded team were made to fight for the title as the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix (TSPR) scored first, but the Nagato Blue Angels, coached by Puea (Lawrence) Faifua in his first season in charge, came out on top thanks to tries by Amari Hara, Sakurako Yazaki, Yume Hirano & Mackenzie Davis. The title is their 6th since the Series started in 2019, and they have now been crowned Champions in 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026

Both Mackenzie Davis and Sakurako Yazaki came into the finals weekend with 8 tries each, but Yazaki was Series MVP, scoring 5 tries on finals day, while Mackenzie Davis scored 4.

The club said online (via translation), “What we strive for as a team has not changed. To promote international exchange through rugby….Our goal has never been to simply build a strong team – We want to build a great team.”

The Nagato Blue Angels won the 1st and 3rd rounds as well as the Grand Final, and were runners-up in the 2nd round.

For TSPR, opening score through Savannah Bodman (it’s confusing why she was not called up by the Sakura 7s this HSBC SVNS season), with Ryoha Okamoto & Rinka Matsuda also crossing over but they fell just short. They came into the Finals ranked 6th but have grown as the Series went on.

Matsuda scored 6 tries on the final day – the same wing scored two hat-tricks in two Tests for the Sakura XV in the Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship this year as they defended their XVs title.

Photo Credit JRFU – Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Sapporo Grand Final – Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Runner-up

Mie Pearls, who came into the weekend as the second-ranked team but were well beaten by the Tokyo Phoenix in their semifinal, defeated Yokogawa Musashino Artemi-Stars to third place with a 19-10 win.

They named Michiyo Suda (also the Sakura 7s captain) as their MPV, while Australia 7s player Heidi Dennis was named the team’s best defender.

Photo Credit JRFU – Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Sapporo Grand Final – Mie Pearls 3rd place

Final Standings Top 8 – Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026

1. Nagato Blue Angels
2. Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix
3. Pearls
4. Yokogawa Musashino Artemi-Stars
5. Nanairo Prism Fukuoka
6. Yokohama TKM
7. Nippon Sport Science University Women’s Rugby Club
8. Arukas Queen Kumagaya Women’s RFC

All of the results can be seen here.

Promotion/Relegation – Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026

The results of the promotion/relegation matches saw the Japan Self-Defense Forces Physical Training School PTS, Hokkaido Barbarians Diana, and Japan University of Economics Women’s Rugby Club AMATERUS qualify for the 2027 series. The teams play two matches, with the aggregate score seeing teams earn promotion or be relegated

AMATERUS was the only Challenge Team to earn promotion, with Otemon Gakuin University Women’s Rugby Club VENUS relegated. The aggregate score was 43-21 (24-14 & 19-7).

Taiyo WSS 2026 News

• Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Sapporo Grand Final Tournament Preview.
• Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Round 3 Kitakyushu.
• Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Round 2 Tochigi.
• Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2026 Round 1 Kumagaya.