Singapore SVNS - Round Six
Yesterday at 04:34 AM
PREVIEW: The Singapore National Stadium will host the exciting climax to the regular season of HSBC SVNS 2025 on April 5 and 6 as the League Winners will be crowned.
The international rugby sevens action promises to be thrilling from the start as teams battle for vital ranking points with the top eight ranked men's and women's teams qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles on May 3 and 4.
Following an epic penultimate round in Hong Kong China last weekend, all 12 men's and women's teams have arrived in Singapore where the 24 captains were treated to a scenic boat trip around the famous Marina Bay on Wednesday.
The pools for HSBC SVNS Singapore have produced some mouthwatering matchups.
The competition format involves four pools of three teams each, replicating the event format used in Cape Town during the second round of HSBC SVNS 2025, meaning every match counts from start to finish.
Women's Olympic champions and SVNS leaders New Zealand are in Pool A with Brazil and China.
Reigning SVNS champions Australia will face Japan and Spain in Pool B.
Pool C sees Olympic medallists Canada and the USA together with Great Britain. France, Fiji and Ireland complete Pool D.
New Zealand women's captain Sarah Hirini said: "We had some really good success in Hong Kong, and we want to continue that momentum here.
"The girls won here last year and I hope we can repeat the success this year too.
"It's amazing that we have put ourselves in a good place to hopefully have a successful day one, which would see us bring the league title home as we did last year so we're really excited by that.
"It's something we'll focus on and enjoy if that comes to fruition, but Brazil and China are tough and we need to rectify a few things from when we played them last weekend."
Men's SVNS title favourites Argentina are in Pool A with Great Britain and South Africa.
Former BlitzBoks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi said that he expects a fresh effort from his side following their disappointing ninth-place finish in Hong Kong:
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"Each tournament has its own merits, and you literally have to start all over again," said Soyizwapi.
"[The] same here in Singapore, where we arrived with a fresh focus. We sat down after the Hong Kong tournament, cleared the air and then left that behind.
"You can't assume things or aspects of play will go well just because it did so in a previous tournament, you need to start from scratch again.
"You might think there is doom and gloom but there is not, as we will go into this weekend with a mindset that things can be done, that we have a system that works and a process that can be trusted."
On the other side of the scale is Zander Reynders, who is hoping to score his first try in the fifth tournament of his career.
The lanky forward who made his debut in Cape Town, where the BlitzBoks claimed gold, said the journey has been very rewarding, and he is keen to contribute.
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"I am learning so much from everyone," said Reynders.
"Luckily for me, amongst the forwards, we have a couple of guys that have played 50 plus tournaments so I can tap into their experience all the time and that is great.
"They have been of great help as well, always willing to assist."
Reynders made a couple of starts in Hong Kong, having played off the bench before that, something that has added to his desire to contribute to the team.
"There is just a wonderful culture of caring and sharing in the squad and it is almost inevitable that you would like to respond to that," said Reynders.
"I can do that by delivering my best effort every time I step onto the field.
"This is a fantastic journey for me and I am so happy to be part of this.
"For now, I am hoping to stay in this system as I really feel at home with this group of people and their values."
Olympic champions France will play Ireland and Kenya in Pool B.
Australia, Spain and Uruguay will battle it out in Pool C. Fiji, New Zealand and the USA are in Pool D.
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Schedule
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus eight hours)
Men
Saturday, April 5
Ireland v Kenya (12.42)
Spain v Uruguay (13.04)
Great Britain v South Africa (13.26)
New Zealand v USA (13.48)
France v Kenya (16.00)
Australia v Uruguay (16.22)
Argentina v South Africa (16.44)
Fiji v USA (17.06)
France v Ireland (18.39)
Australia v Spain (19.38)
Argentina v Great Britain (20.00)
Fiji v New Zealand (20.22)
Women
Fiji v Ireland (10.30)
Brazil v China (10.52)
USA v Great Britain (11.14)
Japan v Spain (11.36)
France v Ireland (14.10)
New Zealand v China (14.32)
Canada v Great Britain (14.54)
Australia v Spain (15.16)
France v Fiji (17.33)
New Zealand v Brazil (17.55)
Canada v USA (18.17)
Australia v Japan (19.16)
Sources: HSBC SVNS & SA Rugby
