The RugbyPass Round Table writers preview the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS Series. Finn Morton (FM), Ben Smith (BS), Joe Harvey (JH) and Lachlan Grey (LG) weigh in with some predictions before the season opener this weekend in Dubai.
Give us a left-field bold prediction that you think will happen
Finn Morton (FM): The SVNS Series will look a bit different this season.
Two fierce rivals will step up as the teams to beat, dethroning Argentina as League Winners ahead of the three-leg World Championships.
Argentina have become a powerhouse in rugby sevens, claiming bronze at the Tokyo Olympics before taking the SVNS Series by storm like never before. Gaston Revol led the team’s rise to a Maiden League title before retiring, while Marcos Moneta continues to leave fans in awe.
RUGBY SVNS 2026 promo
There are five debutants in the Los Pumas Sevens squad for Dubai – Eliseo Morales, Sebastian Dubuc, Valentin Maldonado, Martiniano Arrieta and Juan Batac. Luciano Gonzalez and Santiago Alvarez are among the leaders within that set-up, so don’t doubt their greatness completely.
There is absolutely no doubt that the Los Pumas Sevens program remains incredibly strong, but there are other teams ready to take over. Spain are on the up, Australia are building behind the scenes, and expect an All Blacks Sevens resurgence this season.
As a bold prediction, Australia and New Zealand will step up as the teams to beat, with Argentina among the contenders. Australia and New Zealand will win at least three of the six men’s regular-season events between them, with Argentina taking out one title as well.
Dietrich Roache returns after spending a year on the sidelines, and three really exciting debutants are more than ready to make their mark. New Zealand have announced a talented squad too, as they prepare to usher in a new generation.
Ben Smith (BS): New Zealand to complete the double again in Hong Kong, the first of the three World Championship events in the revamped series.
Whilst the Black Ferns tend to kick into gear after Dubai, the All Blacks Sevens are late season bloomers. But there is a special feeling around Hong Kong for New Zealand teams, which is held just as the All Blacks Sevens start to get going.
In both 2023 and 2024 at the iconic old stadium, the men’s and women’s teams both won the event. With Hong Kong Sevens moving to Kai Tak last year, they couldn’t pull off the triple-double.
But in 2026 they will be back to complete the feat once more.
Joe Harvey (JH): I’ve been gazing at a crystal ball for a while now. Ahead of the regular season’s conclusion, I expect Argentina to lead the way in the men’s standings and the Black Ferns in the women’s table. Because, let’s be honest, it is the Grand Finals that truly matter. When you get to the business time of a season you look at the teams who know how to win and last season offers an indication of just that.
The Blitzboks were World Championship winners. I think they will beat Los Pumas in the Bordeaux finale.
As I have already said, Australia will come up clutch with a squad teeming with talent and reverse last season’s World Championship final result to better the Black Ferns on the banks of the Garonne.
Lachlan Grey (LG): I think we’ll see two new teams lift tournament silverware in 2025/2026 – Spain Men and Canada Women.
Spain came agonisingly close to a men’s gold medal last season – placing second in Dubai and Los Angeles – while Canada’s women finished the Series with three straight bronze medals and are riding high off their spectacular 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign.
Who is your pick for Men’s SVNS Player of the Year?
LG: Given I’ve tipped Argentina to go all the way, they’ll need a player like Marcos Moneta to lead the charge.
It’d be easy to tip the formidable Luciano Gonzalez to go back-to-back but at 25, Moneta is bigger, stronger and faster than ever following his 26-try season where he again topped the tally and earned Dream Team selection.
Few players on the Series can match Moneta for sheer pace and he’ll race away to a second Player of the Year title ahead of his compatriot.
FM: With Australia, New Zealand and Argentina ready to take over, expect a fair share of the nominees to come from these nations. Marcos Moneta or Luciano Gonzalez are the obvious contenders from Los Pumas Sevens, while Joaquin Pellandini could have a breakout season.
Pellandini is an incredibly talented playmaker who may need to step up even more if Argentina are to go against my last prediction and remain the team to beat. Moneta is a try-scoring machine and will likely win at least one Player of the Final award, but don’t forget about Gonzalez.
Fans may have forgotten just how good Dietrich Roache is, with the Australian able to school defensive lines with quick thinking and tidy execution. When Wallabies great Michael Hooper scored his first Wallabies try in Singapore last year, it was Roache who delivered the final pass.
Roache is also a goal-kicker, so much like Pellandini, will play an integral role in the team’s quest for title this season. With Henry Paterson out of the season with an ACL injury, Roache will need to step up regardless.
Then there’s the All Blacks Sevens, who have a new skipper. Akuila Rokolisoa has been nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year before and seems the most likely, although Ngarohi McGarvey-Black could be in the conversation depending on when the playmaker returns.
As a final answer, Roache will do something that no Australian has done before, winning World Rugby’s Men’s Sevens Player of the Year. POTY recipients have come from England, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Fiji, the USA and Argentina, but never Australia – for now.
BS: Of course the Argentinian stars Moneto and Gonzalez will be in the mix, along with Spain’s Pol Pla. Last year’s equal top try scorer, Joji Nasova of Fiji, has moved to 15s.
If Fiji go up a notch to challenge Argentina as the premier force in 7s again, it could be Pilipo Bukayaro, one of Fiji’s talented playmakers along with veteran Terio Veilawa.
From a New Zealand perspective, if the All Blacks Sevens do well if Roderick Solo is back. He could do big things once back on the circuit in 2026.
If Solo is healthy, he will shock the world for Player of the Year.
JH: This is a tough one. For much of the past five years, Argentina have ruled the roost. And I sort of expect much of the same. Marcos Moneta was just 21 when he was named Player of the Year and has continued to be a top performer in the years since while the likes of Rodrigo Isgro and Luciano Gonzalo have taken the award. He’s unerringly good. It’s actually frightening. So I expect him to take the gong home again.
Which women’s player stands out as the favourite for POTY?
JH: Honestly, I still feel a little robbed that we didn’t see Maddi Levi on the pitch at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. But that disappointment fills me with optimism about what the 23-year-old could do for Australia on the World Series in 2025/26. We already know of her talent. She has been named in numerous Dream Team of the Years and was 2021’s Women’s Sevens Player of the Year. She’s even a two-time runner-up.
LG: The safe bet would be one of the Trans-Tasman heavyweights and past winners Jorja Miller or Maddi Levi but there’s something really special about Asia Hogan-Rochester, especially off the back of Canada’s incredible year in XVs.
Hogan-Rochester scored five tries in their maiden World Cup campaign – including a double in the Final against England – and will return to the circuit full of confidence and raring to lead Canada to victory against the big two in a tournament final.
FM: World Rugby’s Women’s Sevens Player of the Year has been awarded a dozen times since 2013, and either a New Zealander or an Australian has won it almost every single time. France’s Anne-Cecile Ciofani in 2021 is the only other recipient.
Jorja Miller took out the award last season, after helping New Zealand win the SVNS League title and the World Championship. The Black Ferns Sevens vice-captain will almost certainly be in the conversation for the top honour yet again by season’s end.
New Zealand captain Risi Pouri-Lane has an opportunity to step up as both a leader and a game-driver this season, with the Black Ferns Sevens missing some big-name stars – Michael Brake and Sarah Hirini are pregnant, and Shiray Kaka recently had a child.
With a bit of a next-generation look to the Black Ferns Sevens squad, it’s Miller and Pouri-Lane who need to step up. Braxton Sorensen-McGee is likely to stand out as a rookie, but the teenager likely won’t win the top prize.
But this time, the POTY will be an Australian.
Levi is the obvious candidate, having scored a record-breaking 15 tries last season in Dubai – the former AFLW draftee scores with every second touch. Younger sister Teagan Levi is another candidate, but Madison Ashby will stand out.
Ashby returns to SVNS this weekend, 573 days after suffering a devastating knee injury in Singapore. As an elusive threat with the ball, the Tokyo Olympian will play a key role in Australia’s quest for the world title.
BS: Jorja Miller will have to be the favourite again after scooping the award in 2025, looking to become the first player to go back-to-back since Michaela Blyde (now Brake) in 2017-18.
Brake and Charlotte Caslick are the only players to win the award twice. Miller will have fierce competition from Maddison Levi of Australia, the 2024 winner, who is always chasing a second WPOY.
The duopoly of New Zealand and Australia’s dominance in the women’s game means the Player of the Year will likely come from one of these two teams.
The dark horse pick is Risi Pouri-Lane who was sensational in 2025 for the Black Ferns, picking up two Player of the Final awards and named in the Dream Team of the Year.
Pouri-Lane for 2026 Player of the Year.