History was made on a dazzling day of high drama, emotion and all action international rugby sevens in Singapore as Argentina’s men claimed their first ever HSBC SVNS league winners title and New Zealand overcame arch rivals Argentina in an epic women’s final to win both the Singapore and SVNS League titles
New Zealand crowned women’s HSBC SVNS 2024 league winners with epic victory over Australia in Singapore final including a hattrick from Michaela Blyde
Argentina win historic first men’s HSBC SVNS league title, becoming only the sixth nation to win the title
New Zealand complete HSBC SVNS Singapore double with win over Ireland in men’s final
Both Great Britain men’s and women’s teams secure eighth and last Grand Final spot and guarantee their place in HSBC SVNS 2025
Top eight teams move on to inaugural HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May – 2 June, where bottom four placed teams will contest new promotion and relegation play off competition
Argentina had to dig deep and find a way to win 14-10 over South Africa in the fifth-place play-off, coming back from 10-0 down at the break to secure their first-ever HSBC SVNS series win.
As Argentina’s celebrations began, it was the All Blacks Sevens who clinched the title in Singapore, defending their trophy from last year and taking their second consecutive gold after victory last time out in Hong Kong.
It was an emotional moment when Argentina finally confirmed themselves as this season's League Winners, a last-minute winner from Tobias Wade under the posts confirming the title that looked so firmly in their grasp after three wins in the first four tournaments of the season, but became less certain after slip-ups in Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
“It’s been such a long time. So many moments, good and bad,” reflected Argentina’s Gastón Revol, who debuted for his country back in 2009, on winning the SVNS title.
“The journey was really difficult. We kept on trying, kept on training, kept on believing in this team and I think we have the prize that we deserve. It’s incredible to be here at this moment. Here and in every other tournament at my age, I’m 37 years old and I’m still here with these guys, these great players.”
Trailing South Africa at the break, Revol spoke of what it took for his team to come back for the victory.
“This is our team – this is us,” he said. “In the difficult moments we get together and do things like winning the match. [At half-time] one of the guys said in the [huddle] that we could, that we have to trust, and we did that,” he added. “We started to believe.”
The race for the last Grand Final spot was eventually won by Great Britain after a 26-5 victory over Australia in the bronze medal match.
USA had held off a French fightback to win 19-17 in the seventh-place play-off, but Great Britain’s win saw them clinch the eighth seeding and send the USA in to the promotion and relegation competition in Madrid.
Great Britain men’s captain Robbie Fergusson said: “It’s not really sunk in to be honest! Seven points behind in the standings and I think everyone had written us off but to come out and play knockout rugby, from game two just to have a shot was unbelievable character from the boys and the resilience from us as a group to come together.
“We’ve given ourselves a one-shot chance in Madrid and then we can press on and then it puts us in a good place for the Olympic qualifier in Monaco. There’s total belief between the 18 boys, the ones that are at home and couldn’t make this trip that are injured that are ready to come back in for the next one, and the boys that have slogged it out here for the last six games. It’s tough going on the body but these moments make it all worthwhile.”
The new look HSBC SVNS 2024 featured seven regular season events in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore, where the League Winners were decided, before the inaugural Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May to 2 June when the HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned in the winner takes-all event featuring the top eight teams from the regular season.
The event in Madrid will also see the bottom four placed teams from HSBC SVNS 2024 compete with the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a new high stakes promotion and relegation competition.