New Zealand, Argentina advance as Dubai 7s off to flying start

Following a historic, record breaking Olympics in Paris, rugby sevens returned with a bang as a new season of HSBC SVNS kicked off in style at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

There was scintillating, world class rugby sevens on the pitch and non-stop entertainment with mass participation sports and live music acts creating a vibrant festival atmosphere to match the heat of the desert.

Alongside some of the stars of the Olympic Games were many fresh faces as 91 debutant players were selected across the 12 men’s and 12 women’s squads.

Olympic Champions New Zealand and reigning HSBC SVNS Champions Australia were once again the outstanding teams in the women’s competition, both claiming a hat-trick of wins to top their pools and ease through to Sunday’s quarter-finals.

Earlier, Sarah Hirini, who had missed all of last season after picking up an ACL injury in Dubai last December, and who had fractured her cheekbone en route to hard-won Olympic gold in Paris, scored on her long-awaited HSBC SVNS return as New Zealand eased past Brazil 33-5 in their opening match.

Australia are looking for a fifth successive tournament victory in Dubai but will face a tough test in the quarter-final against Olympic silver medallists Canada. New Zealand play Ireland while Olympic bronze medallists the USA take on France. Great Britain and Japan will get play under way at 09:20 local time (GMT+4) when they contest the first quarter-final following impressive performances on day one.

Ireland’s Aimee Leigh Murphy Crowe joined an elite club by scoring her 200th SVNS Series try while Australia’s own try machine Faith Nathan claimed her 100th try on day one in Dubai.

In the men’s competition previous double Olympic champions Fiji and SVNS 2024 league winners Argentina were the pace setters, winning all three matches to top their pools and lay down a marker for the new season.

Fiji will face reigning Olympic and SVNS Champions France in the quarter-finals while Argentina’s reward is a quarter-final tie with Australia. Great Britain will take on an impressive Spain.

South Africa have won five consecutive Dubai titles and seven of the last eight tournaments here and they remain in with a chance of securing a sixth straight title after a thrilling golden-point victory over Olympic champions France in the last match of an epic first day.

The Blitzboks will face old foes New Zealand to complete a mouth-watering quarter-finals line-up.

It was a positive day for Spanish rugby as both men’s and women’s teams made it to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2019. The women ended a 22 game losing streak against France while the men beat New Zealand for only the third time in Series history to reach the Dubai quarter-finals for the first time.

Day two begins on Sunday with the quarter-finals and culminates with the women’s gold medal final, followed by the men’s final.

HSBC SVNS 2025 features seven events across seven months in seven iconic global destinations. Six regular season rounds will be played in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore to decide the HSBC SVNS league winners, before the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles, which will see the top eight men’s and women’s teams compete at Dignity Health Sports Park which will host the LA 2028 Olympic rugby sevens.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik was announced as Cricket ambassador at Emirates Dubai 7s cricket festival recently.

Former professional international Indian cricketer will be joining festivities at cricket site and hosting masterclasses alongside further world-class cricket stars including English International players Tom Hartley and Fi Morris

Renowned for his fifteen-year international cricket career, having played over 300 matches and captained the Kolkata Knight Riders, Karthik, the legendary former wicketkeeper-batsman will be a central cricket figure throughout the festival.

Celebrated for his match-winning knockout in the Nidahas Trophy final in 2018, 7s fans will be thrilled to catch Dinesh Karthik joining into the festival fun in Dubai. He will also host a series of masterclasses throughout the event alongside further world-famous cricket stars, including former English world cup winners Georgia Elwiss and Alex Hartley, English international and Lancashire player Tom Hartley, who was part of the recent T20 World Cup squad in June, and Lancashire Thunder all-rounder Fi Morris.